The Kingdom of Travancore, also known as the Kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor or later as Travancore State, was an Indian kingdom that lasted from c. 1729 until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvananthapuram. At its zenith, the kingdom covered most of the south of modern-day Kerala and the southernmost part of modern-day Tamil Nadu with the Thachudaya Kaimal's enclave of Irinjalakuda Koodalmanikyam temple in the neighbouring Kingdom of Cochin. However Tangasseri area of Kollam city and Anchuthengu near Attingal in Thiruvananthapuram were parts of British India.
Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma was the Maharaja of the Kingdom of Travancore. He is also considered as a brilliant music composer and is credited with over 400 classical compositions in both Carnatic and Hindustani style.
Pillai or Pillay, meaning "Child of King" (Prince) or "Child", is a surname found among the Malayalam and Tamil-speaking people of India and Sri Lanka.
Iravivarman Thampi, better known as Irayimman Thampi, was an Indian Carnatic musician, music composer and poet from the Kingdom of Travancore. He was a vocalist in the court of Swathi Thirunal. His compositions include the lullaby Omanathinkal Kidavo, one of the most popular lullabies in Malayalam.
Marumakkathayam was a system of matrilineal inheritance prevalent in regions of the southern Indian state Kerala. Descent and the inheritance of property was passed from maternal uncle to nephews or nieces. It was followed by Nair, Ambalavasi and some Nambuthiri Brahmins. The eldest male was considered the head known as karanavar, and the entire assets of the family were controlled by him. The properties were not inherited by his sons, but the children of his sisters. It has to be noted that this system was not matriarchal as is sometimes misinterpreted, and was strongly patriarchal with only a male allowed to be the head of the family.
The Ettuveetil Pillamar were Nair nobles from eight ruling Houses in erstwhile Travancore in present-day Kerala state, South India. They were associated with the Padmanabhaswamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram and the Ettara Yogam. Their power and wealth grew until Marthanda Varma (1706–1758), the last king of Venad and the first king of Travancore, defeated them in the 1730s.
Velayudhan Chempakaraman Thampi ofThalakulam (1765–1809) was the Dalawa or Prime Minister of the Indian kingdom of Travancore between 1802 and 1809 during the reign of Bala Rama Varma Kulasekhara Perumal. He is best known for being one of the earliest individuals to rebel against the British East India Company's authority in India.
Sir Ayilyam Thirunal Rama Varma IVGCSI CIE (1832–1880) reigned as Maharaja of Travancore from 1860 to 1880. His reign was highly successful, with Travancore, gaining the appellation of "model state of India", with such celebrated administrators as Raja Sir T. Madhava Rao and Sir A. Seshayya Sastri serving him as Diwans.
Sir Moolam Thirunal Rama Varma (1857–1924) was Maharajah of the princely state of Travancore between 1885 and 1924, succeeding his uncle Maharajah Visakham Thirunal (1880–1885). Moolam Thirunal is considered as the first in Indian to implement the concept of public participation in governance through the formation of Travancore Legislative Council.
Pooradam Thirunal Sethu Lakshmi Bayi CI was the monarch, though designated as the Regent due to British policy, of the Kingdom of Travancore in southern India between 1924 and 1931. She, along with her younger cousin, Moolam Thirunal Sethu Parvathi Bayi, were adopted into the Travancore royal family and were the granddaughters of the celebrated painter, Raja Ravi Varma.
Ammachi Panapillai Amma was the title held by the consort of the ruling Maharajah of Travancore as well as those of other title-holding male members of the Travancore Royal Family.
Sri Padmanabha DasaSir Visakham Thirunal Rama Varma VFRAS, also known as Rama Varma the Learned, was the Maharaja of Travancore from 1880 to 1885 AD, succeeding his elder brother Ayilyam Thirunal on the musnud, or throne. He was a noted scholar of Sanskrit and literary composer in Malayalam, who reversed his brother's policy, liberally patronizing poet Kerala Varma, while hostile to painter Raja Ravi Varma.
Rajah Rama Varma was the ruler of the Indian kingdom of Venad, later known as Travancore, in the modern day state of Kerala, India between 1724 and 1729, having succeeded his brother Unni Kerala Varma. He is better known as the uncle of Maharajah Padmanabha Dasa Vanchi Pala Marthanda Varma Kulasekhara Perumal, the "maker of modern Travancore". He was born into the Royal Family of Kolathunadu, as the second son of Rajah Ittamar of Thattari Kovilakam. It was princes from the Parappanadu family who customarily married Kolathunadu princesses. Rama Varma's entire family, including himself, two sisters and his elder brother Unni Kerala Varma, were adopted into the Venad house as members of the Travancore Royal Family by Rajah Ravi Varma, nephew of Umayamma Rani due to the failure of heirs there. Ittammar Raja's sister and her sons, Rama Varma and Raghava Varma, settled in Kilimanoor and married the now adopted sisters. Of the adopted sisters, one died soon after her adoption while the other was the mother of the Maharajah Marthanda Varma.
Sree Padmanabhadasa Sree Uthradom Thirunal Marthanda Varma was the titular Maharaja of Travancore. He was the younger brother of the last ruling monarch of the Kingdom of Travancore, Maharajah Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma.
Ammaveedus were the residences of the consorts of the Maharajahs of Travancore in Trivandrum. The descendants of the Maharajahs were considered as members of these Ammaveedus, with a status subordinate only to royalty. The chief four Ammaveedus are the Arumana, Vadasseri, Thiruvattar and Nagercoil Ammaveedus.
The Travancore royal family was the ruling house of the Kingdom of Travancore.The Travancore royal family signed a treaty with the British in 1788, thereby adopting British dominance. Later, in 1805, they revised the treaty, leading to a diminution of royal authority and the loss of political independence for Travancore. They had to give up their ruling rights over the common people in 1949 when Travancore were forced to merge with Independent India and their political pension privileges were abolished in 1971.
Kiryathil Nair or Kiriyath Nair is a Kshatriya subdivison of Nair caste, of martial nobility, having performed the functions of Kshatriyas in Kerala, India. They also did business, industry, medicine and accounting. But as they were Kshatriya sub-division their main occupation was martial nobility.
Madampi(equivalent to Lord in English) is an aristocratic title given to the uppermost subdivisions of Nairs in Kerala, by the Maharajahs of Travancore and Cochin. Usually, it was given in addition to the Pillai title. Madampis served as Jenmis or landlords during the pre-independence era. Their power was severely reduced after the Communist government passed the Land Reforms Ordinance. The title Madampi was also used in Cochin, to denote the 71 Nayar chiefs who ruled under the Maharajah of Cochin. A few Nambuthiri landlord families, most notable of whom being those in Vanjipuzha and Makilanjeri, were also given the Madampi title. In Cochin, the Madampis had their own armies, but seldom numbered more than 100. Their power was only a little bit higher than that of the Desavazhis. Madampis supplied chieftains along with soldiers in times of war to the King.
Sree Padmanabhadasa Sree Moolam Thirunal Rama Varma is the current incumbent to the throne of Travancore. He is the youngest of the four children of the former titular Maharani of Travancore, Sree Padmanabhasevini Maharani Karthika Thirunal Lakshmi Bayi and her husband, Prince Consort Lt. Col. G. V. Raja of Poonjar Royal House.
Koyi Thampuran was the title of the Prince Consorts of the Queens and Princesses of Travancore. The Koyi Thampurans' gained prominence and prestige in Kingdom of Travancore as they were the fathers of the then reigning Kings. In Travancore, there were ten clans of Koyi Thampurans. The most ancient were the ones settled at Kilimanoor ; others were Kirthipuram, Pallam, Paliyakkara and Nirazhi, Ananthapuram, Chemprol, Cherukol, Karazhma and Vatakkemadham.
