Travancore had a population of 6,070,018 at the time of the 1941 Census of India.

Religions

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="line-height:20px;text-align:center;"

|-

! Census year

| Total population

| colspan="2" style="background:Orange;"|<span style="color:white;">Hindus</span>

| colspan="2" style="background:DodgerBlue;"|<span style="color:white;">Christians</span>

| colspan="2" style="background:Green;"|<span style="color:white;">Muslims</span>

|Source

|-

! 1816 – 1820

| 906,587

| 752,371

| 82.99%

| 112,158

| 12.37%

| 42,058

| 4.64%

|

|-

! 1881

| 2,401,158

| 1,755,610

| 73.12%

| 498,542

| 20.76%

| 146,909

| 6.12%

|

|-

! 1901

| 2,952,157

| 2,063,798

| 69.91%

| 697,387

| 23.62%

| 190,566

| 6.46%

|

|-

! 1911

| 3,428,975

| 2,836,728

| 82.73%

| 554,618

| 16.17%

| 37,629

| 1.10%

|

|-

! 1921

| 4,006,062

| 3,349,776

| 83.62%

| 624,917

| 15.60%

| 31,369

| 0.78%

|

|-

! 1931

| 5,095,973

| 4,260,860

| 83.61%

| 788,455

| 15.47%

| 46,658

| 0.92%

| The Kings of Travancore, unlike their counterparts in the other princely states of India, spent only a small portion of their state's resources for personal use. This was in sharp contrast with some of the northern Indian kings. Since they spent most of the state's revenue for the benefit of the public, they were naturally much loved by their subjects.

Violence rooted in religion or caste was uncommon in Travancore, but the barriers based on these parameters were rigid. Swami Vivekananda described Travancore as "The Lunatic Asylum in India" due to the level of caste discrimination. Vaikom Satyagraha pointed out the high-level casteism existed in Travancore.

Travancore was once a dominant feudal state during the Venad period, with the Nair aristocracy reaching its peak compared to other kingdoms.

Unlike most of India, in South Canara and Travancore (and the rest of Kerala), the social status and freedom of women who belong to forward castes were relatively high. An exception was the 19th-century Upper Cloth Revolt. The women of backward castes had not the permission to wear upper cloth in Travancore.

Notable people

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  1. Paremmakkal Thoma Kathanar (1736–1799) is the author of Varthamanappusthakam (1790), the first ever travelogue in an Indian language.
  2. Mor Severios (1851–1927), Metropolitan
  3. Kandathil Varghese Mappillai (1857 – 6 July 1904) was an Indian journalist, translator, publisher and the founder of the newspaper Malayala Manorama and the magazine Bhashaposhini.

See also

  • Zamorin of Calicut
  • Kingdom of Cochin
  • Marthanda Varma
  • Travancore-Cochin
  • Thachudaya Kaimal
  • Battle of Colachel
  • Travancore War
  • Travancore rupee
  • Battle of Nedumkotta
  • Travancore–Dutch War
  • Cochin - Travancore Alliance (1761)
  • Cochin Travancore War (1755–1756)
  • Kingdom of Mysore
  • Upper cloth revolt
  • Vaikom Satyagraha
  • Temple Entry Proclamation
  • Merger of Kanyakumari with Madras State
  • Madras Presidency
  • Malabar District
  • Marthandavarma (novel)
  • The Years of Rice and Salt, an acclaimed novel that features an alternate history Travancore

Notes

References

Citations

Bibliography

  • (Digital book format)

Further reading

  • (a second revision was published in 1939)

Census reports

  • Travancore State Manual by T.K.Velu Pillai (archived 7 May 2006)