Kanyakumari

The area covered by the present district of Kanyakumari was a part of the previous Travancore state. In the year 1835, when the Travancore state was divided into Northern and Southern divisions, this area formed part of the Southern division and was placed in charge of Dewan Peishkar, Kottayam. In the month of July 1949, when the United States of Cochin and Travancore was inaugurated, the present Kanyakumari area continued to form a part of Trivandrum district in Kerala. The people of Agasteeswarem, Thovalai, Kalkulam and Vilavancode taluks, which formed the southern divisions of the former Trivandrum district, were predominantly Tamil speaking. They agitated for the merger of this area with state of Madras. The States Reorganization Commission recommended this and the States Reorganization Act, 1956 was passed and the district of Kanyakumari was formed on the 1st of November 1956, with the four taluks, Viz., Kalkulam, Agasteeswarem, Thovalai and Vilavancode and merged with the state of Tamil Nadu.