former princely state in southwestern India, now part of Kerala state. Travancore was in the kingdom of Kerala, or Chera, in the early centuries CE and traded with distant parts of the world. In the 11th century the region fell under the Chola empire. The Hindu kings of the Vijayanagar empire held it briefly in the 16th century. In the mid-18th century the region was unified and became the independent state of Travancore, allied with the British in their wars in southern India. A treaty brought it under British protection in 1795. Travancore was known for its relatively high literacy rate and its progressive government. After Indian independence, Travancore and Cochin (now Kochi) merged to form the state of Travancore-Cochin; boundaries were redrawn, and it was renamed Kerala in 1956.