Trivandrum Division
{{Short description|Administrative division of Travancore in British Raj}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2017}}
{{refimprove|date=March 2017}}
{{Infobox former subdivision
|_noautocat =
|native_name =
|conventional_long_name = Southern Division
|common_name = Southern Division (Travancore)
|subdivision = Division
|nation = Travancore
|status_text =
|government_type = Monarchy
|title_leader =
|leader1 =
|year_leader1 =
|legislature =
|house1 =
|house2 =
|type_house1 =
|type_house2 =
|capital = Padmanabhapuram
|coordinates =
|national_motto =
|national_anthem =
|political_subdiv =
|today = Kerala and Tamil Nadu, India
|year_start = 1856
|year_end = 1949
|era = British Raj
|image_map = India Travancore locator map.svg
|image_map_caption = Location of Travancore
|stat_year1 =
|stat_area1 =
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}}
Trivandrum Division was an administrative division of the princely state of Travancore, located to the south of Quilon or central Travancore.{{cite book|last1=Shungoony Menon|first1=P.|title=A History of Travancore from the Earliest Times|date=1878|publisher=Higgin Botham & Co.|location=Madras|page=[https://archive.org/details/ahistorytravanc00menogoog/page/n602 486]|url=https://archive.org/details/ahistorytravanc00menogoog|accessdate=5 May 2016|language=English|format=pdf}} It was composed of eight taluks — Chirayinkir, Nedumangadu, Neyyattankara, Pattanapuram, Shenkotta, North Trivandrum and South Trivandrum and was administered by a civil servant of rank Diwan Peishkar equivalent to a District Collector in British India.{{cite book |title=A classbook of the geography of Travancore |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JZdeAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA47 |author=Thomas Foulkes |year=1864}} The administrative headquarters were at Trivandrum which was also the seat of the Travancore government and the residence of the Maharajah.
In 1921, the eight taluks of Trivandrum were merged with Southern Division. Since then, the Southern Division was called Trivandrum Division.
Before the formation of the Travancore Kingdom, Southern Travancore, Padmanabhapuram, and the Trivandrum division were part of Venad (kingdom) (previously known as Quilon), with its capital at Quilon. Quilon Kingdom covered present-day four southern Kerala districts and Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu. Kollam, Pathanamthitta district, and the northern Trivandrum districts were situated to the north of Quilon. Kanyakumari district and the south-central Trivandrum district were situated to the south of Quilon.{{cite book |author=Thomas Foulkes |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JZdeAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA47 |title=A classbook of the geography of Travancore |year=1864}}{{cite book |last1=Shungoony Menon |first1=P. |url=https://archive.org/details/ahistorytravanc00menogoog |title=A History of Travancore from the Earliest Times |date=1878 |publisher=Higgin Botham & Co. |location=Madras |page=[https://archive.org/details/ahistorytravanc00menogoog/page/n602 486] |language=English |format=pdf |accessdate=5 May 2016}}