Fort Saint George.

In the early seventeenth century, British East India Company merchants were drawn to the Bay of Bengal, where traditions of maritime trade with Southeast Asia reached back for centuries. For European shipping, however, this coast presented problems. From Cape Comorin to Orissa, the coastline stretched north in an almost unbroken line of sandy beaches upon which giant waves beat incessantly. There were virtually no safe anchorages, and with the wind blowing incessantly landward, no ship could safely anchor close to shore during the fury of the monsoon. The only significant port on the entire east coast was Masulipatam, at the mouth of the Godavari River in the domain of the sultan of Golconda.