The Katyuri kings were a medieval Hindu Rajput's ruling clan of Khasha origin from Joshimath that ruled over the regions in present day regions of Kumaon, Uttarakhand in India and parts of Doti/Sudurpashchim Province in Nepal from 700 to 1200 CE. The founder of this dynasty, King Vasu Dev was originally a Buddhist ruler, but later he started following Hindu practices sometimes attributed to a vigorous campaign of Hindu philosopher Adi Shankara (788–820 CE).
King Bhu Dev was known for extensively eradicating Buddhist practices in his kingdom and the Bageshwar stone inscription of Bhu Dev writes himself as "Brahmana Parayana" and "Parama Shramana Rupu" meaning a follower of Brahmans and an arch rival of Buddhist Bhikshus. The Katyuri Kings were known for constructing several Hindu temples in present-day Uttarakhand as later they followed Brahminical practices.
After fragmentation and disestablishment of the Katyuri kingdoms, their offshoots rose as Askot Katyuri Paal Rajwar in Pithoragarh, another Katyuri Paal Doti Rainka in modern Doti district of Nepal, King Brahm Deo's branch state in Sui (Kaali Kumaon)(after whose name Brahmdeo Mandi of Nepal was founded), another Katyuri house at Baramandal, one of them maintained its sovereignty over Baijnath and finally one each Katyuri house in Dwarahat and Lakhanpur.
They called their state Kurmanchal, the land of Kurma, the second avatar of Vishnu, from which the present name is derived. Their capital was Kartripura.
Most scholars agree on the Khasha origin of Katyuris. European and Chinese historians believe Katyuris to be natives of Kumaon. For example E. T. Atkinson, in the first volume of his book Himalayan Gazetter, proposes the Katyuris to be natives of Kumaon, and traces their roots in the ruined town of Karvirpur on the bank of the Gomati river. However, historian Badri Datt Pandey proposed descent from the Shalivahana ruling house of Ayodhya while historian Price Powell claims their origin back to the Kunindas, having found coins from the Kuninda period (Kuninda Kingdom).