The Travancore Royal Family was the ruling house of the Indian princely state of Travancore. They lost their ruling rights in 1949 when Travancore merged with the Indian Union and their privileges were abolished by the Indian Union in 1971 by a constitutional amendment. The family descends from the ancient Ay/Venad rulers and the Cheras. A sister dynasty of theirs is the Kolathiris (the Mushika Dynasty and they both hold the distinction of being Samantha Kshatriya). The Travancore Royalty could also "unofficially" be considered descendants of the Pandya and Chola dynasties, due to consistent intermarriages with the Chera, Pandya, Chola and Kolathiri dynasties, over the centuries. In fact, only the Travancore and Kolathiri families are those surviving among the original royal Velir Family's