daughter’s son. In 1857 the line of Travankúnr was again threatened with eventual exhaustion. The sister of the late Rájá daughter’s daughter of the eldest of the two sisters adopted in 1788—left five children, four sons, the second of whom is the present Rájá, and one daughter. This daughter died suddenly, leaving only two sons. The race whence future Rájás were to be supplied thus became extinct, and, on the death of all the male members, the line, unless recruited by adoption, would expire with them. Under these circumstances, the Rájá, with the concurrence of the British Government, adopted, to continue the line, two of the most eligible from amongst his female relatives.[1]
The right of adoption has been granted to the Rájá of Travankúr.
CHAPTER IV.
KOCHIN
Area—1,131 sq. miles.
Population—399.060.
Revenue—10,57,497 rupees.
This small principality is bounded on the north by the province of Malabár, on the south by Travankúr, on the east by Dindigal, and on the south-west by the Arabian Sea. Its rulers claim to hold the territory in right of direct descent from the potentates who are said to have wielded in the ninth century supreme authority over the whole extent of territory stretching from Gokuru in North Kanará to Cape Kumári. It is difficult to trace their history back to a period so remote. There are, however, authentic records to show that the Rájás succumbed at an early period to the Portuguese, who built a fort at
- ↑ Aitchison's Treaties.
