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In the Travancore Kindom, lower class women were not allowed to wear clothes that covered their breasts. This convention continued into the British Raj and it disturbed the missionries (19th century). The Kingdom generally sided with the British in the various wars with their neigbors. Thus he British had considerabkle influence. During the Raj, substantial numbers of lower class people embraced Christianity. This provided a level of upward social mobility that was restricted by Hinduism. Christian women influenced by the missionaries wanted to cover their breasts. That caused a violent reaction among the majority Hindus. Colonel John Munro, British dewan in the Travancore court, issued an order granting permission to women converting to Christianity to cover theit tops (1813). Under pressure from Charles Trevelyan, the Madras Governor, the king of Travancore issued a law proclaiming the right for all low class women to cover their breasts (1859). It was still common in the early-20th century to see women going shirtless in Kerala.
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