Travancore in the context of "Tipu Sultan"

The Malayali people (Malayalam: [mɐlɐjaːɭi]; also spelt Malayalee and sometimes known by the demonym Keralite) are a Dravidian ethnic group native to the southern Indian state of Kerala, and the union territory of Lakshadweep. They are predominantly native speakers of the Malayalam language, one of the eleven classical languages of India. The state of Kerala was created in 1956 through the States Reorganisation Act. Prior to that, since the 1800s existed the Kingdom of Cochin, the Travancore, Malabar District, and South Canara of the British Raj. The Malabar District was annexed by the British Indians through the Third Mysore War (1790–92) from Tipu Sultan. Before that, the Malabar District was under various kingdoms including the Zamorins of Calicut, Kingdom of Tanur, Arakkal kingdom, Kolathunadu, Valluvanad and Palakkad Rajas.

According to the Indian census of 2011, there are approximately 33 million Malayalis in Kerala, making up 97% of the total population of the state. Malayali minorities are also found in the neighboring state of Tamil Nadu, mainly in Kanyakumari district and Nilgiri district and Dakshina Kannada and Kodagu districts of Karnataka and also in other metropolitan areas of India. Over the course of the later half of the 20th century, significant Malayali communities have emerged in Persian Gulf countries, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait and to a lesser extent, other developed nations with a primarily immigrant background such as Malaysia, Singapore, the United States (US), the United Kingdom (UK), Australia, New Zealand and Canada. As of 2013, there were an estimated 1.6 million ethnic Malayali expatriates worldwide. The estimated population of Malayalees in Malaysia in year 2020 is approximately 348,000, which makes up 12.5% of the total number of Indian population in Malaysia that makes them the second biggest Indian ethnic group in Malaysia, after the Tamils. Most of the Malayalee population in Malaysia aged 18 to 30 are known to be either the third, fourth, or fifth generation living as a Malaysian citizen. According to A. R. Raja Raja Varma, Malayalam was the name of the place, before it became the name of the language spoken by the people.

Colonial India was the part of the Indian subcontinent that was occupied by European colonial powers during and after the Age of Discovery. European power was exerted both by conquest and trade, especially in spices. The search for the wealth and prosperity of India led to the colonisation of the Americas after Christopher Columbus went to the Americas in 1492. Only a few years later, near the end of the 15th century, Portuguese sailor Vasco da Gama became the first European to re-establish direct trade links with India by being the first to arrive by circumnavigating Africa (c. 1497–1499). Having arrived in Calicut, which by then was one of the major trading ports of the eastern world, he obtained permission to trade in the city from the Saamoothiris (Zamorins). The next to arrive were the Dutch, with their main base in Ceylon. Their expansion into India was halted after their defeat in the Battle of Colachel to the Kingdom of Travancore, during the Travancore–Dutch War on the hands of Marthanda Varma.

Trading rivalries among the seafaring European powers brought other coastal powers from the empires of Europe to India. The Dutch Republic, England, France, and Denmark–Norway all established trading posts in India in the early 17th century. As the Mughal Empire disintegrated in the early 18th century, and then as the Maratha Empire became weakened after the third battle of Panipat, many relatively weak and unstable Indian states which emerged were increasingly open to manipulation by the Europeans, through dependent Indian rulers.

Raja Ravi Varma (Malayalam: [rajaː ravi varma(ː)ɐ]) (29 April 1848 – 2 October 1906) was an Indian painter. His works are one of the best examples of the fusion of European academic art with a purely Indian sensibility and iconography. He greatly enhanced his reach and influence as a painter and public figure by making affordable lithographs of his paintings available to the public. His lithographs increased the involvement of common people with fine arts and defined artistic tastes. Furthermore, his religious depictions of Hindu deities and works from Indian epic poetry and Puranas have received critical acclaim. He was part of the royal family of Parappanad, Malappuram district.

Raja Ravi Varma was closely related to the royal family of Travancore of present-day Kerala state in India. Later in his life, two of his granddaughters were adopted into the royal family.

Eustachius Benedictus de Lannoy (also sometimes called 'Captain De Lannoy') (30 December 1715 – 1 June 1777, Udayagiri Fort) was a skilled military strategist and commander of the Travancore army, under Maharaja Marthanda Varma.

De Lannoy, originally a Dutch naval officer, arrived with a Dutch naval force at Colachel in 1741 sent by the Dutch East India Company, or Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (VOC) with the objective of instituting a trading post for the company at Colachel. The company was the world's first joint-stock company and was the largest multinational company. It was a very rich corporation and had its own naval fleet to protect its trade and maritime establishments.

The history of southern India covers a span of over four thousand years, during which the region saw the rise and fall of a number of dynasties and empires.

The period of known history of southern India begins with the Iron Age (c. 1200 BCE – 200 BCE), Sangam period (c. 600 BCE – 300 CE) and Medieval southern India until the 15th century CE. Dynasties of Chera, Chola, Pandyan, Pallava, Travancore, Cochin, Zamorin, Kolathunadu, Chalukya, Satavahana, Rashtrakuta, Western Ganga, Kakatiya, Hoysala, Seuna, Bhonsle, Gaekwad, Scindia, Holkar, Patwardhan, Sangama, Saluva, Tuluva, Aravidu and Bahmani were at their peak during various periods of history.

Mahatma Ayyankali (മഹാത്മ അയ്യൻകാളി; 28 August 1863 – 18 June 1941) was an Indian social reformer, educator, economist, lawmaker, and revolutionary leader. He worked for the advancement of the oppressed people in the princely state of Travancore. His struggle resulted in many changes that improved the socio-political structure of Kerala. His determined and relentless efforts changed the lives of Dalits. He is known as the King of Pulaya.