Travancore
native Tiruvánkod, a protected State in the extreme S. of British India; bounded on the N. by Cochin, on the E. by British territory and on the W. by the Indian Ocean. The State pays a yearly tribute of £80,000 to Great Britain, is politically connected with the province of Madras; area 7,294 square miles; pop. about 3,500,000, mainly Hindus, belonging to 420 castes, from Brahmans to Negroid hillmen. Nairs are over a fourth of the total, Mohammedans only 7 per cent. There are many native Christians of the Syrian rite and some black Jews. At the S. extremity of the State is Cape Comorin; the Western Ghats run along the E. side. W. of the hill foots is a level belt, 10 miles wide, covered with cocoanut and areca palms. On the elevations the soil is light and gravelly; in the valleys it is in general a deep black mold. Travancore shares with Cochin the lagoons or backwaters along the coast. The chief produce is copra, coir, tobacco, nut oil, areca nut, ginger, pepper, cardamoms, beeswax, coffee and timber. The rajahs are intelligent, have been faithful to the English alliance, cherish education, and govern well. The capital is Trivandrum; TRAVANCORE TREASURY DEPARTMENT other principal places are Aulapolai and "hard labor" in prisons, is now greatly Quilon. restricted, as the weak and strong are by it compelled to equal exertion.