The Travancore National and Quilon Bank, often abbreviated as TN&Q Bank, was a bank which came to being in 1937 in the princely Kingdom of Travancore in modern day India as a result of merger of two well known banks of the time, Travancore National Bank and Quilon Bank. The bank was closed down in 1938.
The Travancore National and Quilon Bank was the result of a 1937 merger between Travancore National Bank (founded: 1912) and Quilon Bank (founded: 1919). The merger resulted in TNQB becoming the 4th largest bank in India.
The bank was owned and managed by two prominent Christian families of Kerala, Chalakuzhy family and Kandathil family with origin from Thiruvalla.
The bank had also managed to become the fourth largest bank in India, after the Imperial Bank of India, the Central Bank of India and the Bank of India.
The Travancore National and Quilon Bank was a successful bank in all aspects. But its unrelenting support to the Indian National Congress (INC) in the struggle for independence resulted in its downfall. The Dewan(Prime Minister)of Travancore,Sir C.P Ramaswamy Iyer got irked because its founders were supporting the Indian National Congress instead of the Ruler of the Kingdom Of Travancore. So, he devised a plan to close down the bank. His plan was successful, and the two founders of the bank, K. C. Mammen Mappillai and Chalakuzhy Paulose Mathen were both falsely implicated and imprisoned by the Dewan, C.P Ramaswamy Iyer and his accomplices.
The bank was closed down after being accused of financial irregularities. But because this was not the truth, the founders were able to repay its investors before closing down permanently in 1939. The banks founders were released from imprisonment without any charges against them being proven.
The collapse of the Travancore National and Quilon Bank remains a subject of historical and cultural interest in Kerala. While the official reason for its 1938 closure was financial irregularity, the event is frequently analyzed through the lens of the political tension between the bankâÂÂs management and the Dewan of Travancore, Sir C.P. Ramaswamy Iyer.
In recent years, the personal records of the foundersâ families have been used to provide alternative perspectives on this period. The Kochi-Muziris Biennale (2024âÂÂ2026) featured a collateral exhibition titled âÂÂLilies in the Garden of Tomorrowâ by artist Sarah Chandy, which examined the bank's history through the private correspondence and diaries of Eliamma Matthen, wife of co-founder C.P. Matthen. The installation focused on the domestic impact of the bank's liquidation and the subsequent imprisonment of its directors. Furthermore, the TNQ Foundation now operates as a contemporary entity that supports various cultural and educational initiatives, maintaining a link to the institution's historical identity.