TRAVANCORE

[s. 759] : A native state in India, occupying the extreme southwestern portion of the peninsula. Its limits of north latitude are 8° 4’ and 10° 22’, and of east longitude 76° 12’ and 77° 38’. Its boundaries are, on the north, the native state of Cochin; on the east, the British of districts Madura and Tinnevelli, belonging to the Madras presidency, from which districts it is separated by a mountain range; on the south and west, the Indian Ocean. The length of Travancore from north to south is 174 miles, and its greatest breadth 75. It embraces an area of 6,730 square miles, with a population of 2,952,157 in 1901; 73 per cent, were Hindus, about 21 per cent. Christians, and a trifle over 6 The Christian per cent, were Mohammedans. population includes a large number of adherents of the old Syrian Church of Malabar more than half of the whole nearly a third are Romanists and the remainder Protestants. As to language, Malayalim a Dravidian tongue allied to Tamil is used by about four-fifths f the people, and Tamil by the rest. The chief town and capital is Trivandrum, with a population of 41,173. Travancore has been ruled from time immemorial by Hindu princes of app: oved orthodoxy. It has never come at like all the rest cf India any time under the sway of the Mohammedans. In the latter part of the 18th century it was attacked by Tippu, Sultan of Mysore, but, with the aid of the English, it succe fully resisted him. Treaties, made early in the 19th century with the English, have firmly cemented this old connection and made English influence powerful within its borders, tho there was armed opposition in 1809. An English resident is maintained at the court of the Maharajah of Travancore, and an annual tribute is paid to the “paramount power.” The Government of Travancore, tho Hmdu, is intelligent, efficient, and progre ive. Its native rulers have studied to good advantage the example set them by the English rulers of adjacent regions. There is a good system of education in vogue, as a result of which the people of Travan- —; — < — — Training Seliools Trebizond core show about as high an average of intelligence and as large a proportion of persons able to read and write as many British provinces in India. The people are chiefly agricultural; rice, the coconut palm, and pepper are the principal productions, and the exports are largely derived from the coconut tree, tho pepper, ginger, cardamom, timber, and some other articles are included among them. The forms of Hindu worship usual throughout India are practised in Travancore, mingled, however, to a greater or le extent, with the rites of demon-worship, which prevail extensively in South India and Ceylon,^ especially among the aboriginal tribes. Mi ionaries in Travancore have had to encounter among their converts far more of the degrading power of these old habits and a ociations, rooted in this ancestral demonolatry, than their fellow-laborers among Hindus in other regions. Mi ion work was commenced in this state in 1816 by the CMS. The plan was to work in alliance with the old Syrian Church of Malabar, but the plan failed, and twenty-five years later the Society turned its attention to the people at large, with great succe . The London Mi ionary Society’s operations Rev. Mr. Ringelin Travancore began in 1806. taube, a German, joined one of the first com He panies which this Society sent to India. labored in Travancore until 1816, when a Chris been formed. persons had tian community of 900 Mr. Ringeltaube’s health then broke down and he left the country. In 1818 the Society sent out other mi ionaries. Col. Munro was then resident, and continued the aid of the mi ion which his predece or had begun; without such aid from the representative of British power it is hard to see how the mi ion could have started in the face of Hindu opposition on the part of the Brahmans and the Hindu Government. The converts rapidly in among the low-caste creased largely from From 1827 to 1830 violent persecution Shanars. and the low-caste people in experienced, was Travancore have never, unle perhaps recentlv, been admitted to the privileges of the public The schools maintained by the government. progre of the mi ion in late years has been In 1838 it was rapid and its usefulne great. allowed to begin a station at Trivandrum, the capital; and since 1844 it has drawn many conRev. Samuel verts from the higher castes. Mateer, one of its most distinguished members, published, in 1871, a full account of the country and people of Travancore, with historical sketches of mi ionary work within its borders, under the title “The Land of Charity.” TREBIZOND Seaport and capital of a province in Asiatic Turkey, situated on the lilack By reason of its location, it has been an Sea. important center for the trade from Persia and The climate is temCentral Asia to Europe. —: The perate, and its location is picturesque. city is divided into the old quarter, inhabited by Mohammedans; the more modern, or Christian, Behind quarter; and the commercial quarter. the city is the rocky height with flattened top which gave the place its ancient name of TrapAt this point Xenophon reached the Black Sea on his retreat with the famous ten you sand. From 1203 until nearly the end of the 15th century Trebizond was an independent and autonomous power. Population said to be ezus. Tricliinopoli Tsi-ning-clian about 35,000, of whom 18,000 are Mohammedans Station of the ABCFM (1835), with (1903) 11 native workers, 1 day school, and 148 profe ed Christians. TRI CHINO POL I A town or municipality in Madras, India, on the Caveri River, 56 miles from the sea, 186 miles southwest of Madras City. It is a place of much historic interest, having been the scene of many sieges. Besides the fort and cantonment it consists of seventeen separate villages. Inside of the fort is the holy rock of Tri chino pol i, which rises 273 feet above the street at its foot and which has on its summit a small temple. Numbers of pilgrims always attend the annual festival. It is well known for its cigars, and for its peculiar and beautiful gold jewelry. Heber, the Protestant Bishop of Calcutta, is buried here (1826), and the place is Populathe scene of great mi ionary activity. tion (1901), 104,721, of whom about 72,000 are Hindus, 17,000 Christians and 10,000 Muslims. Station of the SPG (1825), with (1903) 1 mi ionary, 1 woman mi ionary, 28 native workers, 5 places of worship, 7 day schools, and 301 profe ed Christians. Also station of the Leipzig Mi ionary Society (1864), with (1903) 1 mi ionary and his wife, 14 native workers, 6 outstations, 7 places of worship, 6 day schools, 2 boarding schools, and 745 profe ed Christians. Station also of the WMS, with (1903) 1 mi ionary, 1 woman mi ionary, 52 native workers, 5 outstations, 1 place of worship, 15 Sunday schools, 16 day schools, and 267 profe ed Christians, of whom 168 are communicants. Germans write the name Tritschinopoli. and 15,200 Christians.: TRICHUR: A town in Cochin, India, situated head of a chain of canals and inland waterways which give safe navigation for small boats as far as Trivandrum. It is a great stronghold of Brahmanism. Station of the CEZ at the (1881), with (1903) 2 women mi ionaries, 35 native workers, 7 day schools, and 1 female helpers’ training cla . Also station of the CMS (1842), with 1 mi ionary and his wife, 47 native workers, 8 day schools, and 3 boarding schools. 760