The Vijayanagara emperor, Venkata II, granted to the English East India Company a small site on the east coast in 1640 A.D. on which was built the Fort St. George. Further south, the French established a settlement at Pondicherry and the nationals of these two European states rapidly increased their strength and exploited the rivalries of the local princes in their own wars during the next century. Qutub Shahi expansion into the districts of the eastern Carnatic assumed a serious phase in 1646 A.D. when the celebrated general, Mir Jumla, led a number of raids. He soon took Tondamanad, Tirupati and Chandragiri and devastated the Chittoor and North Arcot districts. He penetrated further south and captured Ponneri, Poonamalli, Kanchi, Gingee and Wandiwash. Soon after this, he deserted Golconda and walked into the Mughal camp. Shah Jahan, the Mughal emperor, confired the Carnatic as a Jagir on Mir Jumla and Tupaki Krishnappa Nayaka managed the jagir for the general. After Mir Jumla’s death in 1663 A.D., the jagir was given to Neknam Khan who managed it through a representative, named Chintapalli Mir/a. Sivaji, the celebrated Maratha ruler, passed through the Kallur pass, near Tirupati, in 1676A.D. while on his way for the conquest of Ami, Vellore and Ginjee. Five years later, the Golconda minister, Akkanna, was at Tirupati, trying to set matters right. Aurangzeb, the son and successor of Shah Jahan, conquered the Qutub Shahi kingdom and annexed it to the Mughal empire. With this the Carnatic and the Tirumala-Tirupati region, which was included in it, passed into the hands of the Mughals,