Travancore's Legislative Council and the Sri Mulam Popular Assembly, where Kerala's legislature begins

Background

The Assembly has just sent a new Bill to one of its subject committees, and the committee habit itself is older than the State.
Dewan T. Rama Rao proposed a Legislative Council to the Maharaja in January 1888, and a regulation creating it was passed on 30 March 1888.
The Council had a three-year tenure and 8 members, of whom 6 were officials and 2 non-officials nominated by the Maharaja, with the Dewan presiding.
Its inaugural meeting was held at noon on 23 August 1888 in the Dewan's room, and the First Council of 1888-1891 had 32 sittings and passed 9 recommendatory Bills.
The Select Committee constituted to study and report on Bills marked the origin of the committee system, and the Malayali Memorial was signed in 1891 seeking wider representation.
The Sri Mulam Popular Assembly of Travancore was formed on 1 October 1904 as a body of representatives of landholders and merchants, meeting first on 22 October 1904 at the Victoria Jubilee Town Hall in Trivandrum.
A regulation of 1 May 1905 gave the people the privilege of electing members: of 100 members, 77 were to be elected and 23 nominated, for a tenure of one year.
The franchise was tied to property - annual land revenue of not less than Rs. 50 or a net income of not less than Rs. 2000 - and to graduates of a recognised university of not less than ten years standing.