 In the east , the Bijapur @-@ Shahji forces had better success ; in 1639 , they took possession of gold @-@ rich Kolar district and soon of Bangalore , a city founded a century earlier by Kempe Gowda I , and to become , two centuries later , a hub of British presence . Next , moving down the Eastern Ghats , the range of mountains rising behind the coastal plains of southeastern India , they captured the historic towns of Vellore and Gingee . Returning north through the east @-@ central <unk> plain ( average elevation 600 m ( 2 @,@ 000 ft ) ) , they gained possession of the towns of Ballapur , Sira , and the hill fortress of Chitaldroog . ( See Map 4 . ) 
