a native state of Southern India, under the superintendence of the presidency of Madras, lying between N. Lat. 8.1. and 10.21., E. Long. 76.14. and 77.38.; bounded on the N. by Cochin and the British district of Coimbatore, E. by those of Madura and Tinnevelly, S. and W. by the Indian Ocean. Area 4722 square miles. The whole country is traversed from north to south by the chain of the Western Ghauts, which is here very irregular, and forms in some places the eastern boundary of Travancore. They terminate in a bold hill, a little distance from Cape Comorin; and the range in some places attains the height of 7000 feet above the sea. From these mountains the various rivers that water the country flow generally westwards, into the sea, which they enter either directly, or through what are called the Back Waters, a series of shallow lakes parallel to the coast, and communicating with the sea. The largest river, the Periyar, flows north-west from the mountains, and falls into one of these. The coast, which is about 160 miles in length, is low and sandy, in many places covered with trees to the water's edge. There are many roadsteads, which afford safe anchorage in fair weather, but no good harbours along the coast. Cape Comorin, remarkable as the extremity of the Indian peninsula, is a low sandy point, and there are nowhere more than a few low cliffs along the coast. Although the whole of the country lies in a very warm latitude, the heat of the climate is moderated in the east by the elevation of the ground, and in the west by the nearness of the sea and the abundance of rain; for the climate is remarkable for moisture, which makes it enervating, though not unhealthy, for Europeans. The mountains consist chiefly of granite and other primitive rocks, but iron is the only important metal that exists in the country. In the loftier regions a light gravelly soil prevails; but in the lower ground there is a deep rich mould, on which rice, palm trees, mulberries, and other vegetables flourish. In the more secluded parts of the mountains there are large forests of teak and other timber, in which elephants, tigers, leopards, wild boars, buffaloes, elks, and other wild beasts abound. Of birds, the country contains the vulture, hawk, raven, pea-fowl, parrots of various kinds, and great numbers of water-fowl. The rivers and lakes abound in fish and alligators, and the latter are often very ferocious and destructive. The majority of the people are Hindoos; but there is also a large number of Mohammedans, chiefly the descendants of Arabs who have settled on the coast; and there are proportionally more Christians in Travancore than in any other part of India. The Christians are either of the Syrian or Jacobite church, subject to the Patriarch of Antioch, or Romanists, or (a comparatively small number) Protestants, and their entire numbers are estimated at 150,000. The state is governed by a Hindu rajah; but there is a British resident at the capital, Trivandrum; and the British government is bound to protect and assist the rajah on all needful occasions. The first alliance between Travancore and the East India Company took place in 1784. Pop. 1,011,824.