Editing Travancore (section)

===Mysore invasion===

{{main|Mysore invasion of Kerala}}

[[File:Tippoo Sahib at the lines of Travancore in the 1850s.jpg|thumb|[[Tipu Sultan]] at the lines of Travancore. Illustration from Cassell's Illustrated History of India by James Grant (c. 1896).]]

Marthanda Varma's successor Karthika Thirunal Rama Varma (1758–1798), who was popularly known as [[Dharma Raja]], shifted the capital in 1795 from [[Padmanabhapuram Palace|Padmanabhapuram]] to [[Thiruvananthapuram]]. [[Dharma Raja]]'s period is considered a Golden Age in the history of Travancore. He not only retained the territorial gains of his predecessor, but also improved and encouraged social development. He was greatly assisted by a very efficient administrator, [[Raja Kesavadas]], the Diwan of Travancore. {{citation needed|date=June 2015}}

Travancore often allied with the [[English East India Company]] in military conflicts.<ref name="Travancore 2011">"Travancore." Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2011. {{page?|date=August 2024}}{{ISBN?}}</ref> During [[Dharma Raja]]'s reign, [[Tipu Sultan]], the de facto ruler of [[Mysore]] and the son of [[Hyder Ali]], attacked Travancore in 1789 as a part of the [[Mysore invasion of Kerala]]. Dharma Raja had earlier refused to hand over the [[Hindu]] political refugees from the [[Mysore invasion of Kerala|Mysore occupation of Malabar]] who had been given asylum in Travancore. The Mysore army entered the Cochin kingdom from Coimbatore in November 1789 and reached [[Thrissur]] in December. On 28 December 1789 Tipu Sultan attacked the Nedunkotta (Northern Lines) from the north, causing the [[Battle of the Nedumkotta (1789)|Battle of Nedumkotta (1789)]], and the defeat of the Mysore army.