The Kurmi are a Hindu agricultural Jāti (community) in India.

The group has been associated with the Kunbi, though scholars differ as to whether the terms are synonymous. In 2006, the Indian government announced that Kurmi was considered synonymous with the Kunbi and Yellam castes in Maharashtra. There are differences of opinion regarding the group's classification in the traditional varna system.

There are several theories regarding the etymology of the term Kurmi. It may be derived from an Indian tribal language, or may be a Sanskrit compound term krishi karmi, "agriculturalist." Another theory holds that is was derived from kṛṣmi, meaning "ploughman".

According to the Anthropological Survey of India, which used British Raj sources, the Kurmis of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are divided into different subcastes e.g. Awadhiya, Ghamalia, Konchasia, Dhanuk, Yasawar or Joshwar, Sindriya, Patel etc.

After the decline of Mughal rule in the early 18th century, the Indian subcontinent's hinterland dwellers, many of whom were armed and nomadic, increasingly interacted with settled townspeople and agriculturists. Many new rulers of the 18th century came from such martial and nomadic backgrounds. The effect of this interaction on India's social organization lasted well into the colonial period. During much of this time, non-elite tillers and pastoralists, such as the Kurmi or Ahirs, were part of a social spectrum that blended only indistinctly into the elite landowning classes at one end, and the menial or ritually polluting classes at the other.