Ethnically, Kole was the first recorded race of Uttarakhand. But power struggle and continued immigration led to their defeat by the Kirats, who were defeated by Khasas, who were finally dominated by the Indo-Gangetic plain people.

Katyuris were the earliest ruling dynasty but their fall led to the next ruling dynasties in these two regions i.e. The Chand dynasty (Kumaon) and The Parmar dynasty (Garhwal). Come to present Uttarakhand, we have two cultural regions i.e. Garhwal and Kumaon under which the 13 districts have been divided, along with many tribes. One could argue that it is the tribal groups of Uttarakhand who have, in fact, preserved many of their social customs and religious practices, and thus, are the actual bearers of the ancient cultural heritage of this state.

Till November 2000, Uttarakhand was an administrative district of the state of Uttar Pradesh. Through the Uttar Pradesh reorganization act, it came to be known by the name Uttaranchal and finally on the faithful day of 9 November, 2000, it became the 27th state of the Republic of India. It was renamed to Uttarakhand, inspiration most probably being puranic terms like Kedarkhanda and Manaskhanda. Present capital of the state is the city of Dehradun, although the town of Gairsain (Chamoli) has been envisioned as the future capital.