Although Surat and its satellite ports had provided the Company with the necessary means of trade and communication, the resistance of Mughal authorities stifled any prospects for expansion. The Coromandel coast seemed to offer opportunities. Here were important trading centres beyond Mughal authority where local chiefs, anxious to consolidate their rule in the febrile political climate that prevailed, viewed the activities of European merchants as a means of generating revenue. From the time Francis Day was first appointed as a factor in 1632, he had applied himself to the task of finding a new site to further English trade. In 1637, he set a course southward from Masulipatnam to Pondicherry with the hope of negotiating the establishment of a factory. The voyage achieved little, but Day noted in passing a small fishing village which clearly attracted his attention, not least because overtures were made by local Telegu nayaks who were keen to attract English trade. A kaul, probably drafted by Day, was speedily granted for the ‘tradeing and fortificing at Medraspatam’. So were laid the foundations for the settlement of Madras.