The kingdom of Venad, also known as ‘Velnad’, ‘Vanavarnadu’ or ‘Vanchidesam’ was one of the thirteen kingdoms of Chera Empire which became independent after the royal power collapsed with the constant conflicts and the demise of Rama Varma Kulasekhara, the last Chera king. The powerful kingdom of Venad or Travancore emerged from the fallen Cheran Empire.

The royal family of the Cheras most probably mingled with the Venads and their successors came to be known as Venad Cheras.

At the pinnacle of their glory, the valiant kings of Venad captured most of South India. One of the most significant of theVenad rulers was Udaya Martanda Varma (1175-1195) who inherited the throne in the 18th century. He took the Venad kingdom to its summit and by expanding the kingdom to the north; he transformed it to Thiruvithamcore or Travancore. In spite of facing much internal and external opposition within the kingdom he maintained his sovereignty and overthrew the Eight Lords more commonly known as Ettuveetil Pillamar (Pillai's of the Eight Noble Houses) with the assistance of the British. Marthanda Varma is also renowned for his erecting the majestic Sri Padmanabha Temple of Trivandrum. He also defeated the Dutch during the Travancore–Dutch war in the Battle of Koiachel and captured the Dutch Admiral De Lennoy.

This great king was succeeded by Rama Varma who was widely known as Dharma Raja. He was the greatest of all Venads and the period of his reign was called the Golden Age in the medieval history of Kerala. Dharma Raja is credited with building the great Mall - Nedumcotta of Central Kerala to defend his kingdom from the attack of Mysore and this construction was administered by the Dutch-General D'Lannoy.

Dharma Raja was a great musician and scholar and the Sanskrit drama Pradyumnabhyudayam is attributed to him. He patronized eminent poets like Unnai Harrier and Kunjan Nambiar and other men of great wisdom. During his reign trade prospered considerably and Quilon became a major centre of business and enterprise.

After the decease of Ravi Varma , there were no more significant rulers and the kingdom was rule the history of the Venad Kingdom is not of special interest. The kingdom dawdled on before it crumbled down at the end of the 18th Century.

Last Updated on 31 May 2011