TRAVANCORE, a state of southern India. Area, 7,625 sq.m. In 1931 the population was 5,095,973. The state stands seventeenth among the native states of India in area and third in population. Travancore extends more than 150 m. along the west coast as far as Cape Comorin, the southernmost point of the pen insula. The Western Ghats, rising to an elevation of 8,000 ft. and clothed with forests, throw out spurs towards the coast, along which there is a belt of flat country of about io m. in width. It is covered with coconut and areca palms, which to a great extent constitute the wealth of the country. The whole surface is undu lating, and presents a series of hills and valleys traversed from east to west by many rivers, the floods of which, arrested by the peculiar action of the Arabian sea, spread themselves out into lagoons or backwaters, connected here and there by artificial canals, and forming an inland line of smooth-water communica tion for nearly the whole length of the coast. The chief river is the Periyar, 142 m. in length. Other important rivers are the Pambai and its tributary the Achenkoil, the Kallada, and the Western Tambraparni, on which there is a reservoir irrigating about 70,00o acres. Mica, monazite and lignite occur. Elephants, bison, etc., are still found in the Cardamom hills. Travancore has an abundant rainfall. The principal ports are Alleppi, Quilon and Paravur; but there is no real harbour. The Cochin-Shoranur and the Tinnevelly-Quilon railways pass through the state. The Peri
yar irrigation project conducts water through the Ghats in a tun nel to irrigate the Madras district of Madura, for which com pensation of Rs. 40,000 is annually paid to Travancore. Rice is the staple crop. Other products are pepper, tapioca, coconuts, cardamoms, coffee, tea and rubber in the hills. Trade is large, the chief exports being copra, coir and other coconut products, pepper, tea, rubber, fish, etc. Cotton is woven and matting made. The capital is Trivandrum. The tribute is £53,333, and there is a military force of about 1,500. The maharaja of Travancore claims descent from Cheraman Perumal, the last Hindu monarch of united Malabar, whose date is variously given from A.D. 378 to 825. Though he is a Kshatriya, the succession follows the local custom of inheritance through females; consequently his sanad of adop tion authorizes him to adopt sisters' sons. For some generations the rulers have been men of education and character, and the state is conspicuous for good administration and prosperity. There is a popular assembly, with women on an equal footing with men as voters and members, and a legislative council, remodelled in 1921. Primary education is free. The state came into direct relations with the British government in 1923. Native Christians, chiefly of the Syrian rite, form nearly one-fourth of the population.