Medieval history of Srinagar involves the political scenario of the region of Srinagar during the regime of the Mughal Dynasty. The 14th century marked the advent of numerable Muslim rulers in the Kashmir valley, which also comprised the Mughals. During the rule of Yusuf Shah Chak, who was an independent Kashmiri king, Srinagar was his capital. However, the Mughal emperor Akbar was able to grab the area of Srinagar from Yusuf Chak by means of forgery when the former failed to do so by force. Yusuf Shah Chak has been buried in the Eastern Indian state of Bihar. Akbar marked the foundation of the Mughal Empire in Kashmir valley.

After the death of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in the year 1707, the Mughal Empire started displaying signs of decline gradually. The decline of the Mughal Dynasty encouraged the infiltrations from Pashtun tribes who entered the Kashmir valley. For many years, Srinagar and other portions of the valley of Kashmir were annexed by the Durrani Empire. A significant part of Kashmir valley was invaded by Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the then ruler of Punjab province in 1814. After that, the Sikhs gained control of Srinagar city. At Lahore, the British and the Sikh kings signed the Treaty of Lahore during 1846. As per the guidelines of this treaty, the British were granted de facto suzerainty over the valley of Kashmir and Gulab Singh was crowned as an independent ruler of Kashmir. Therefore Srinagar was included in his kingdom and held its position as one of the many princely states of the country till the year 1947. The Maharajas who ruled the region of Kashmir used to dwell in Sher Garhi Palace as their main residence of Srinagar.
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