Travancore was a princely state of the British Empire from the early 19^th century until 1949. It briefly joined forces with the state of Cochin, but then both became part of India. It was located at the southern tip of the Indian sub-continent. Its capital during this period was Thiruvananthapuram. It was regarded as a feudatory state and issued stamps from 1888 until 1946. Many of the stamps were printed locally, using primitive methods and they can thus be very rare and the stamps of this state and other feudatory states were often referred to as “Uglies”.

In 1931, Travancore issued its first commemorative set for the coronation of the Maharaja. The stamps of Travancore are known for having different gauges for the perforations. For the Maharaja’s 34^th birthday in 1946, a stamp was issued with various perforations and many perforation errors.