Mughal rule. Soon after, the priests at the Varadharaja Perumal, Ekambareshwarar and Kamakshi Amman temples, mindful of Aurangazeb's reputation for iconoclasm, transported the idols to southern Tamil Nadu and did not restore them until after Aurangzeb's death in 1707. Under the Mughals, Kanchipuram was part of the viceroyalty of the Carnatic which, in the early 1700s, began to function independently, retaining only a nominal acknowledgement of Mughal rule. The Marathas ruled Kanchipuram due to Islamic invasion during the Carnatic period in 1724 and 1740, and the Nizam of Hyderabad in 1742. Kanchipuram was a battlefront for the British East India Company in the Carnatic Wars against the French East India Company and in the Anglo-Mysore Wars with the Sultanate of Mysore.The popular 1780 Battle of Pollilur of the Second Anglo-Mysore War, known for the use of rockets by Hyder Ali of Mysore, was fought in the village of Pullalur near Kanchipuram. In 1763, the British East India Company assumed indirect control from the Nawab of the Carnatic over the erstwhile Chingleput District, comprising the present-day Kanchipuram and Tiruvallur districts, in order to defray the expenses of the Carnatic wars. The Company brought the territory under their direct control during the Second Anglo-Mysore War, and the Collectorate of Chingleput was created in 1794. The district was split into two in 1997 and Kanchipuram made the capital of the newly created Kanchipuram district. Geography Kanchipuram is located at , south-west of Chennai on the banks of the Vegavathi River, a tributary of the Palar River. The city covers an area of and has an elevation of above sea level.The land around Kanchipuram is flat and slopes towards the south and east. The soil in the region is mostly clay, with some loam, clay, and sand, which are suitable for use in construction. It has been postulated that the granite required for the Varadaraja Perumal Temple might have been obtained from the Sivaram Hills located 10 miles east of Kanchipuram. The area is classified as a Seismic Zone II region, and earthquakes of up to magnitude 6 on the Richter Scale may be expected. Kanchipuram is subdivided into two divisions Big Kanchi, also called Shiva Kanchi, occupies the western portion of the city and is the larger of the two divisions; Little Kanchi, also called Vishnu Kanchi, is located on the eastern fringes of the city. Most of the Shiva temples were in