The Kingdom of Travancore was situated in the southern tip of Indian Subcontinent from 1729 to 1949 and ruled by the Travancore Royal Family. Padmanabhapuram was the first capital city which was later shifted to Thiruvananthapuram. At one point in time, the Kingdom covered present-day Kerala as well as some parts of Tamil Nadu. The Travancore princely state was established under the British Regime in the early 19^th century. Several socio-economic reforms were introduced by the Travancore Government under Maharajah Sri Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma. Travancore history talks about its achievements in education, political administration, public work and social reforms.

Early History and Formation

The Travancore Kingdom was earlier known as the Ay kingdom which belonged to the Chera Empire that covered the Thiruvazhumkode area. It later became an independent region called as Aayi desam or Aayi rajyam which extended from present-day Kollam district in the north to Kanyakumari in the south. Aykudi was their capital during the first Sangam age but by th

e end of 8th century AD, it was changed to Kollam. Their power started diminishing due to continuous attacks by resurgent Pandyas from 7th to 8th century. However, they remained powerful till the 10th century. After that, Venad became a part of the Second Chera Kingdom. Cholas invaded Venad and destroyed Kollam in 1096. The Chera capital, Mahodayapuram was also captured by the Cholas. The last emperor of the Chera dynasty, Rama varma Kulasekara shifted his capital to Kollam and established the Venad royal house. After the Second Chera dynasty collapsed in the 12th century, Venad became independent.

Expansion of Power

The territory was also called as Venad and had two capitals, one in Kollam while the other in Thrippapur. Two branches of Ay Dynasty were formed in the second half of the 12^th century. One ruled Kollam while the other ruled Thrippappur. They also managed and controlled the temples of Venad kingdom, especially the Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple. Thiruvithamcode became the capital of the Thrippapur Swaroopam, and the region was called Thiruvithamcode even after the capital was shifted to Padmanabhapuram in 1601. The Chera empire perished in 1100 after which the region was split into different kingdoms. Marthanda Varma was the king of Venad from 1729 who brutally unified them. The kingdom was officially called as Travancore Kingdom during his regime. Marthanda Varma defeated a union of feudal lords during his rule from 1729 to 1758. He also expanded the kingdom by using military campaigns which led to the Travancore-Dutch War from 1739 to 1753. The Dutch finally lost its territories and De Lannoy was captured who later became a Senior Admiral and introduced firearms and artillery.

Travancore went on to defeat Zamorin of Kozhikode in the battle of Purakkad in 1755. Marthanda Varma won many great battles as the Travancore princely state flourished for a long time until independence.