Former princely state, southwestern India.
Now part of Kerala state, it was part of the kingdom of Kerala in the early centuries AD. In the 11th century it fell under the Cola empire; the Hindu kings of the Vijayanagar empire held it briefly in the 16th century, after which it came under Muslim rule. In the mid-18th century it became the independent state of Travancore; then it was under British protection from 1795. After Indian independence, it merged with Cochin to form the state of Travancore-Cochin; boundaries were redrawn, and it was renamed Kerala in 1956.