Quilon or Coulão (Malayalam: ക്വയ്ലോണ്), officially Kollam (Malayalam: കൊല്ലം) is one of the ancient civilizations in India.It is one of the oldest port cities in the Malabar Coast and was the capital city of historic Venad Kingdom and Travancore Kingdom. Quilon was once an important trading port in India. It was also known as Desinganadu. It is now known as the "Cashew Capital of the World". Since the ancient times, city of Kollam(Quilon) has played some major roles in the business, economical, cultural, religious and political history of Asia and Indian sub continent. The Malayalam calendar(Kollavarsham) is also known so with the name of the city Kollam. The city is mentioned in historical citations dating back to Biblical times and the reign of King Solomon, connecting with Red Sea ports of the Arabian Sea (supported by a find of ancient Roman coins). The teak wood used in building King Solomon's throne was taken from Quilon. Merchants from Phoenicia, China, the Straits of Malacca, the Arab world, Europe and East Africa used to visit and trade from Quilon in the ancient times. The history of the district of Kollam as an administrative unit can be traced back to 1835, when the Travancore state consisted of two revenue divisions with headquarters at Kollam and Kottayam. During the integration of Travancore and Cochin states in Kerala in 1949, Kollam was one among the three revenue divisions in the state. Later, those revenue divisions were converted as the first districts in the state. (en)