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Katyuri Dynasty Kurmanchal | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 700 CE–1065 CE | |||||||||||
 .png) {{{3}}} {{{3}}} {{{3}}} Location of the Katyuri kingdom, and main South Asian polities in 1000.[1] | |||||||||||
| Status | Sovereign state | ||||||||||
| Capital | Joshimath later shifted toBaijnath, Uttarakhand[2][3] | ||||||||||
| Common languages | Sanskrit | ||||||||||
| Religion | Hinduism,Buddhism | ||||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||
| Raja (King) | |||||||||||
• 700–849 CE | Vasu Dev | ||||||||||
• 850–870 CE | Basantana Dev (founder ofBaijnath) | ||||||||||
• 870–880 CE | Kharpar Dev | ||||||||||
• 955–970 CE | Bhu Dev | ||||||||||
• brief period till 1065 CE | Bir Dev | ||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||
• Established | 700 CE | ||||||||||
• Transfer of capital to Karttikeyapur,Baijnath | 850 CE | ||||||||||
• Disestablished | 1065 CE | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| Today part of | India Nepal | ||||||||||
TheKatyuri kingdom also known asKatyuri dynasty was a medieval ruling kingdom of the Suryavanshi Kshatriya[4][note 1] that ruled over the regions inUttarakhand in India and westernNepal from 500 to 1200 CE. or 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 philosopherAdi Shankara (788–820 CE).[6]
King Bhu Dev was known for extensively eradicating Buddhist practices in his kingdom and the Bageshwar stone inscription of Bhu Dev[7] writes himself as "Brahmana Parayana" and "Parama Shramana Rupu" meaning a follower ofBrahmans and an arch rival of Buddhist Bhikshus.[8] The Katyuri Kings were known for constructing several Hindu temples in present-dayUttarakhand as later they followed Brahminical practices.[9]
After fragmentation and disestablishment of the Katyuri kingdoms, their offshoots rose asAskot Katyuri Pal Rajwar inPithoragarh, another Katyuri PalDoti Rainka in modernDoti 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 overBaijnath and finally one each Katyuri house inDwarahat and Lakhanpur.[10]
They called their stateKurmanchal, the land ofKurma, the secondavatar ofVishnu, from which the present name is derived. Their capital was Kartripura.[11]
Most scholars agree on the Suryavanshi origin of Katyuris.[4] European and Chinese historians believe Katyuris to be natives ofKumaon.[12] For exampleE. T. Atkinson, in the first volume of his bookHimalayan Gazetter, proposes the Katyuris to be natives of Kumaon, and traces their roots in the ruined town ofKarvirpur on the bank of theGomati river.[2] However, historianBadri Datt Pandey proposed descent from theShalivahana ruling house ofAyodhya[13][3][note 2] while historian Price Powell claims their origin back to theKunindas, having found coins from the Kuninda period (Kuninda Kingdom).[5] The rule of Kunindas were limited only to the foothill tracts and not in the interiors of Uttarakhand and the coins could have reached in the interiors by travel of traders and pilgrims.[15] Another historian,Rahul Sankrityayan, traces their ancestry toShakas and further identifies Khasas and Shakas to be a part of the same race.[4] The Shakas were in India before the first century BCE while the Khasas spread over theHimalaya and extensively populated the mountainous regions of Uttarakhand[4] and the later waves of Shakas got diffused into them.[4] It is also worth noting that theDharmapala emperor andDevapala mentioned Khasa Desha, under their administration and even the administration and arts of the katyuris were very similar to the administration and arts ofPala Empire and also the kings ofChand dynasty regarded Katyuris with low importance which states that they were descendants of Khasas. And let's be honest, that if a migration from Ayodhya happened to Uttarakhand that community must have been intermixed with the local Khasa women and historically, when a migrating community settled in a new region, intermixing with the local population-especially through marriage and relationships-was common. Which is a strong proof that Katyuris were descendants of Khasas. Previously,Khasa had strongly established themselves from Afghanistan to Nepal from ancient period and as per internal evidences, they managed the village level theocratic republics like Gram-Rajya and Mandals under various local clans and identities.[16] Katyuri was one of the ruling houses ofJoshimath that claimed the sovereignty over other Gram Rajyas of the entire territory.[17] The Katyuris ruled fromJoshimath in theAlaknanda Valley and later they shifted their capital toBaijnath.[18]
The Katyuri dynasty was founded by Vashudev Katyuri (sometimes spelled Vasu Dev or Basu Dev);[3] the ancient Basdeo temple in the city - the oldest stone temple inUttarakhand - is attributed to him.[6] His reign is most commonly believed to be from 850 to 870 CE.[6] The Kingdom was then namedJyotiryana, and had its capital atJoshimath in theAlaknanda Valley.[2] Vasu Dev was of Buddhist origin, but later started following Hindu practices. The Hindu practices of Katyuri kings in general is sometimes attributed to a vigorous campaign ofAdi Shankara (788-820 CE).[6]
Later they shifted their capital toBaijnath fromJoshimath,[3][13] during their reign they dominated lands of varying extent from the "Katyur" (modern-day Baijnath) valley in Kumaon, between 7th and 11th centuries C.E., and established their capital at Baijnath inBageshwar district; which was then known asKartikeyapura and lies in the centre of "Katyur" valley.Brahmadev mandi (a trading and business center in a flat area of the then Katyuri kingdom) in theKanchanpur District of Nepal was established by Katyuris king Brahma Deo (Brahma Dev). Brahmadeo Mandi still exists by this name.
At its peak, the Katyuri dynasty of Kumaon extended fromSikkim in the east toKabul,Afghanistan They were known as Katoor around Chitral Gilgit Hindukush, in the west, before fragmenting into numerous principalities by the 12th century.[20] it is believed that from king Dham Deo and Vir Deo the downfall of this powerful dynasty began. Virdeo used to collect heavy taxes and forced his people to work as his slaves, King Virdeo teased his subjects by his tyranny to the extent that he forcibly married his own maternal aunt Tila (Tilottama Devi). It is said that the Kumaoni folk song "Mami tile dharo bola" became popular from that very day.[9] After the death of king Virdeo a civil war among his sons started. Fierce fight took place among them. Whole of the kingdom was ruined. The people of this very family divided the whole kingdom among themselves, they declared themselves independent kings and established their own kingdoms in various parts of Kumaon,[6][13]
King Brahmdeo of this family (after whose name Brahmdeo Mandi was founded) established his kingdom inSui. His first fort lay in Sui and theRawat king ofDumkot [sv] was under him. The second branch started rulingDoti. The third established itself atAskot. Fourth settled down at Baramandal. The fifth maintained its sovereignty overBaijnath and . The sixth branch ruled inDwarahat,[21] later they were displaced byChand kings.[22][23]
TheRajwar dynasty ofAskot inPithoragarh was set up in the 1279 AD, by a branch of the Katyuri Kings,[6] headed by Abhay Pal Deo, who was the grandson of Katyuri king, Brahm Deo. The dynasty ruled the region until it became part of theBritish Raj through theTreaty of Sugauli in 1816.Doti, another branch of the Katyuri dynasty, came underNepal throughGurkha expansion in 1790.[9]
Later one more strong offshoot was Mahuli Mahson Raj, (Basti), Uttar Pradesh. The feudal kingdom stretched (47 kilometers) 14 kose. After Brahm Deo's reign the empire disintegrated, with his grandson Abhay Pal Deo continuing his reign from the kingdom of Askote in Kumaon's Pithoragarh district. Abhay Pal, Deo's two younger sons, Alakh Deo and Tilak Deo set out from Askote in 1305 with a large army and after passing through the Terai region and the plains of U.P, came to Gonda/Gorakhpur. This region was covered in thick jungles and swamps and was inhabited by fierce Bhar tribals. The Ghagra river in the south and Rapti river in the east protected the region from heavy attacks.
The period of certain Katyuri rulers, is generally determined as below, although there is some ambiguity in respect to exact number of years ruled by each King[24]
The Katyuri Kings were known for constructing several temples in present-dayUttarakhand and they followed Brahminical practices.[9] Most of the ancient temples in Uttarakhand are architectural contributions by the Katyuri dynasty.[25] Vasu Dev temple atJoshimath, several shelters and small shrines along the route toBadrinath, as well as the Lakulesha, Mahishasuramardhini, Navadurga and Nataraja temples atJageshwar were constructed by Katyuri Kings.[9] Bhuv Dev (955-970) was follower of Brahminical practices and builtseveral temples atBaijnath andBageshwar, but the structures are lost and tradition continues.[9] A relatively rareSurya temple, is located atKatarmal, now a remote village near Kosi, which was built by Katarmalla, a lesser known Katyuri ruler and the temple has 44 carved temples around the main temple, but is in a state of neglect after the theft of an important idol.[26] The Katyuri Kings also build a temple known as Manila Devi near Sainamanur.
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