The Kingdom of Travancore is a Hindu feudal kingdom with its capital at Padmanabhapuram or Trivandrum ruled by the Travancore Royal Family.

The Kingdom of Travancore at its zenith comprises most of modern day southern Kerala, Kanyakumari district, and the southernmost parts of Tamil Nadu.

The state's flag is red with a silver, dextrally-coiled, sacred conch shell (Turbinella pyrum).

King Marthanda Varma (1729–1758), credited as the "founder of modern Kingdom of Travancore", expands the kingdom of Venad to form Travancore.

He hails from the Kingdom of Thrippappur, one of the branches of the former kingdom of Venad.

The rulers of Venad trace their relations back to the Ay kingdom and the Later Chera kingdom.

Marthanda Varma, crowned in his twenties, successfully suppresses the feudal lords, defeats the local kingdoms of Attingal, Kollam (Desinganad), Kayamkulam, Kottarakara (Ilayidathu Swaroopam), Pandalam, Ambalapuzha, Kottayam, Changanassery, Meenachil, Karappuram, and Alangad and fights numerous battles against the Dutch and the kingdom of Cochin with the help of the British East India Company.

In the famous Battle of Colachel (1741), Marthanda Varma's army defeats the Dutch East India Company, resulting in the complete eclipse of Dutch power in Malabar.

In this battle, Marthanda Varma captures the Flemish admiral of the VOC Eustachius De Lannoy who will later modernize the Travancore army by introducing better firearms and artillery.

This battle in the Travancore-Dutch War (1739–1753) is considered the earliest example of an organized Asian power overcoming European military technology and tactics; and it signals the decline of Dutch power in India.

He is also successful in defeating the Zamorin of Calicut in a battle at Purakkad.

Ramayyan Dalawa, the Prime Minister (1737–1756) of Marthanda Varma, also plays an important role in this consolidation and expansion.

The kings of Travancore often ally with the British East India Company in military conflicts.

During the reign of Dharma Raja, Marthanda Varma's successor, Tipu Sultan, the de facto ruler of Kingdom of Mysore and the son of Hyder Ali, attacks Travancore as a part of the Mysore invasion of Kerala.

This attack is the event lead to the famous Third Anglo-Mysore War.

In the time of king Balarama Varma, Velu Thampi Dalawa, the Prime Minister of Travancore, starts an armed rebellion, which fails.