Flag for former princely state of Travancore
'Travancore' or 'Thiruvithaamkoor' (
Malayalam: തിരുവിതാങ്കൂര് ("Thiru (respectful prefix which suggests either royal or divine) + idham (wish) koor (loyalty) in malayalam.)[''], തിരുവിതാംകൂര് [''], തിരുവിതാങ്കോട് ['']) was a
princely state in
India with its capital at
Trivandrum (Thiruvananthapuram). The state comprised most of south
Kerala and the modern
Nagercoil and
Kanyakumari districts of
Tamil Nadu and it had a 19-gun salute in the British Empire. Its flag was red with a silver dextrally coiled sacred
conch shell (''Turbinella pyrum Linnaeus''). Travancore was merged with the other Malayalam-speaking state of
Cochin on
1 July 1949 to form
Travancore-Cochin, and later with the
Malabar district of
Madras State on
1 November 1956 to form the
south Indian state of
Kerala. The Last Maharajah was
Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma and the last
Dewan was
PGN Unnithan.
A map of Travancore
Geography
Travancore was located in Southern Kerala. According to the legend, Kerala was formed when
Parasurama threw his axe into the sea. The rulers of this state were named ''Sree Padmanabhadasan''- servant of the deity ''Padmanabha Swamy'' an aspect of
Vishnu.
The former kingdom's geography is defined by three natural terrains - a coastal area to the west, a midland in the centre and mountain peaks as high as 9,000 feet on the east
History
Early history of the Region
The region was ruled by the Ay Dynasty during the first Sangham age (circa 300 BC – 600 AD) and was the scene of many battles between the Kulashekaras and the Cholas during the second Sangham age (circa 850–1400 AD), when Vizhinjam, the capital, was sacked by the Cholas. Later the area was termed
Venad, and the rulers were weak, facing external threats from
Nayaks of Madurai,
Nayak dynasty or facing internal rebellions from the powerful feudal land lords (
Ettuveetil Pillamar and the Yogakaar).
Travancore in India during the times of Robert Clive
Eighteenth century
Shivendu Verma
The modern history of Travancore begins with
Shivendu Verma who inherited the kingdom of Venad, and expanded it into Travancore during his reign
1729–
1758. He signed a treaty with the British East India company and with their help destroy the power of the eight feudal land lords (
Ettuveetil Pillamar) and the
Ettara Yogam who supported the
Thampi sons of the king Maharaja Rama Varma. In successive battles, he defeated and absorbed the kingdoms right up to Cochin including
Attingal,
Kollam,
Kayamkulam,
Kottarakara and
Ambalapuzha. He succeeded in defeating the
Dutch East India Company during the Travancore–Dutch war, the most decisive engagement of which was the
Battle of Colachel (
10 August 1741) in which the Dutch Admiral De Lennoy was captured. On
January 3 1750 AD, (Makaram 5, 725
M.E.), he dedicated his kingdom to his tutelary deity Sri. Padmanabha of
Trivandrum (the Trippadidaanam) and from then on the rulers of Travancore ruled the kingdom as the servants of Sri. Padmanabha (Padmnabhadasan). In 1753, the Dutch signed a peace treaty with the Maharajah. With the battle of Ambalapuzha (
3 January 1754) in which he defeated the union of the deposed kings and the Raja of Cochin, Shivendu Verma crushed all opposition to his rule. In 1757 AD, a treaty was concluded between Travancore and Cochin, ensuring peace and stabilty on the Northern border. He organised the tax system and constructed many irrigation works. Admiral
Eustachius De Lannoy, who was captured as a
Prisoner of war in the famous
Battle of Colachel was given appointment as the Senior Admiral (Valiya kappithan). He modernised the Travancore army by introducing firearms and artillery. He made the 'maravan pada' as his personal security guard and a special security force based on Colachel serving the Travancore kingdom. He introduced titles such as ''Chempaka Raman'' to honour the Lords and his relatives who had remained faithful to him during his problems with the
Ettuveetil Pillamar. His able minister during his entire military career was
Ramayyan Dalawa.
Dharma Raja
His successor Karthika Thirunal Rama Varma who was popularly known as
Dharma Raja, shifted the capital in
1795 from
Padmanabhapuram (''see also''
Padmanabhapuram Palace) to
Thiruvananthapuram. Rama Varma's period is considered as a golden age in the history of Travancore. He not only retained the territorial gains of his predecessor Marthanda Varma, but also improved and encouraged social developments. He was greatly assisted by a very efficient administrator,
Raja Kesavadas Pillai, who was the Diwan of Travancore.
During his reign,
Tipu Sultan, the ruler of
Mysore attacked Travancore in A.D.1791. The Travancore forces withstood the Sultan for 6 months, defeating him twice, and then the Maharajah appealed to the
British East India Company for aid, starting a precedent which led to the installation of a British
resident in the country. The British resident, Colonel Macaulay, managed to engage the ruler in treaties which effectively made the state a
protectorate of the East India Company and ended its autonomy resulting finally in the revolt of
Velu Thampi Dalawa. Tipu Sultan was defeated and he did not trouble Travancore anymore till his death in 1799 during the Fourth Mysore War. The
Dharma Raja improved trade in the country. During his reign however the districts of
Kalakkad and parts of Shencottah were annexed to
Arcot.
Balarama Varma
On his death in
1798,
Balarama Varma took over at the age of sixteen. During his reign
Velu Thampi emerged as an able ''
divan'' or minister. A mutiny of a section of the army in 1805 against
Velu Thampi was put down by British troops, at his request. But the demands by the Company for the payment of compensation for their involvement in the 1791 Travancore-Mysore war led to enmity between the Diwan and the Resident. Velu
Thampi and the minister of Cochin, Paliath Achan, organised an ill-fated revolt against the British in A.D.1809. The British defeated Velu Thampi at battles near Nagercoil and Kollam only after the Maharajah, who had till then refused to take any active open part in the fight, turned against Velu
Thampi. Velu
Thampi committed suicide to avoid capture by the British soldiers.
Paliath Achan surrendered to the British and was exiled to Madras and later to
Benaras. Interstingly after the mutiny of 1805 most of the
Nair battalions of
Travancore had been disarmed and disbanded and in 1810 the remaining forces were also disbanded after the rebellion of Velu Thampi.
19th and early 20th Century
Balarama Varma was succeeded by Rani
Gowri Lakshmi Bayi in AD 1810–1815 with the blessings of the British. When a boy was born to her in
1813, the infant was declared the King, but the Rani continued to rule as the regent. On her death in
1815, Maharani
Gowri Parvati Bayi continued as regent. The regencies saw great progress in social issues and in education.
Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma assumed the throne in
1829. He was a famous exponent of
Carnatic and
Hindustani music. He abolished many unnecessary taxes, and started an English school and a charity hospital in Trivandrum in
1834.
On the social platform,
Ayyavazhi started spreading fastly,
[1] as an alternative religious body to the domineering mainstream Sanskritic
Hinduism ''(
Vaishnavism)''
[2] and the newly introduced
Protestant Christianity.
[3] By the mid-nineteenth century, Travancore come to be worse unlike any other parts in
India for the tyrannical rule of discriminative hierarchical caste order that deeply entrenched in the social system motivated by the government which had transformed this caste-based social reality into a religious institution.
[4] In such a contest, Ayyavazhi apart from being a religions system, served also as a reform movement in uplifting the sub-altern section of the society, socialy and religiously. The
ritual corpus of Ayyavazhi conducted a social discourse. Its beliefs, mode of worship and religious organisation seem to have enabled the group to negotiate, cope with and resist the relation of authority.
[5]
The hard tone of Vaikundar towards this is seen as a revolution against the government.
[6] So the then king
Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma arrested
Vaikundar and prisoned him and released after some time.
[7]In fact it is notable that after the release of Vaikundar the caste-based tyrannic administration of the kingdom undergoes considerable change.
The next ruler Maharajah Utharadam Tirunal Marthanda Varma AD 1847–1860 abolished slavery in the kingdom in
1853, and restrictions on the dress codes of certain castes in
1859. He started the postal system in
1857 and a school for girls in
1859. He was succeeded by
Ayilyam Thirunal AD 1860–1880, during whose rule, agriculture, irrigation works and road ways were promoted. Humane codes of law were enforced in
1861 and a college was established in
1866. He also built many charity hospitals including a lunatic asylum. Rama Varma
Visakham Thirunal ruled from AD 1880–1885.
The reign of Sri
Moolam Thirunal Sir Rama Varma AD 1885–1924 saw the establishment of many colleges and schools. When
Jawaharlal Nehru visited the area in the 1920's, he remarked that the education was superior to British India. The medical system was reorganised and Legislative Council, the first of its kind in an Indian state, was established in
1888. The principle of election was established and women too were allowed to vote.
Sethu Lakshmi Bayi ruled as the regent from AD 1924–1931. She abolished animal sacrifice and replaced the matrilineal system of inheritance with the patrilineal one. She ended the
Devdasi system in Temples and was commended by
Mahatma Gandhi for spending almost 40% of state revenue on education.
The last ruler of Travancore was
Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma AD 1931–1949. He made the temple entry proclamation on
12 November 1936, which opened all the
Kshetrams (Hindu temples in Kerala) in Travancore to all
Hindus, a privilege reserved to only the upper caste Hindus till then. This act won him praise from across India, most notably from
Mahatma Gandhi. He also started the industrialisation of the state. His minister
Sir C. P. Ramaswami Iyer was popular among the general public of Travancore. When the British decided to grant independence to India, the minister declared that Travancore would remain as an independent country. The tension between the
Indian National Congress and the minister led to revolts in various places of the country. In one such revolt in Punnapara-Vayalar in AD 1946, the
Communists established their own government in the area. This was brutally crushed by the Travancore army and navy leading to hundreds of deaths. This led to further disturbances and an attempt was made on the life of Sir C.P. Ramaswamy Iyer following which he resigned, to be succeeded by Sri
PGN Unnithan. After this, the Maharajah agreed to join India and Travancore was absorbed into the Indian union.
Kovalam Beach at the southern tip of 'Thiruvithaamcoore', in South India
Postcolonial Travancore
The movement for the unification of the lands where
Malayalam was spoken as the mother tongue took concrete shape at the State People's Conference held in
Ernakulam in April 1928, and a resolution was passed therein calling for ''Aikya Kerala'' ("United Kerala"). On
July 1 1949 A.D., the State of
Travancore-Cochin was established, with the Maharajah of Travancore as the Rajapramukh of the new State. A number of popular ministries were elected and fell and in A.D. 1954, the Travancore Tamilnadu Congress launched a campaign for the merger of the Tamil speaking regions of Southern Travancore with the neighbouring area of
Madras. The agitation took a violent turn and some police and many local people were killed in the riots at Marthandam and Puthukkada, irrepairably alienating the entire Tamil speaking population from merger into Kerala. Under the State Reorganisation Act of 1956, the four southern taluks of Travancore, namely Tovala, Agasteeswaram, Kalkulam and Vilavancode and a part of the Chencotta Taluk was merged with Madras state. The State of Kerala came into existence on
November 1 1956 A.D. with a Governor, appointed by the President of India, as the head of the State instead of the Maharajah.
The Maharajah was stripped of all his ranks and privileges according to the twenty-sixth amendment of the Indian constitution act of
July 31 1971 A.D. He died on
July 19 1991 A.D.
Reference
1. LMS Report for the year 1843, page 75
2. Cf.R.N.Yesudhas, ''The History of the London Missionary Society in Travancore 1806-1908'', Thiruvananthapuram:Kerala Historical Society, 1980, page 22 - ''"Nagam Pillai, the Prime Minister of Tiruvitankur, undertook a mission in the 1780s to force the Catholics of this area to worship Vishnu"''
3. London Missionary Society Report for the year 1843, page 75.
4. Cf. Ward & Conner, Geographical and Statistical Memoir, page 133; V. Nagam Aiya, The Travancore State Manual, Volume-2, Madras:AES, 1989 (1906), page 72.
5. G.Patrick's, Religion and Subaltern Agency, University of Madras, 2003, The Subaltern Agency in Ayyavali, Page 174.
6. www.education.kerala.gov.inTowards Modern Kerala, 10th Standard Text Book, Chapter 9, Page 101. See this Pdf
7. C.f.Rev.Samuel Zechariah, The London Missionary Society in South Travancore, Page 201.
External links
★
Travancore State Manual -T.K.Velu Pillai
★
Genealogy of the Kulasekhara Dynasty of Travancore
★
Another genealogy
★
Venad and Kulasekharas
★
Travancore Devaswom Board
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