What wete the reasons for the decline of Masulipatnam as an imp trading center

The Mughal occupation of Masulipatnam forced the European Companies to look for alternatives. A new policy of the East India Company said that it was not enough if a port had connection with the production centres of the hinterland. It was felt that the new Company trade centres should combine political, administrative and commercial roles. Masulipatnam lost both its merchants and prosperity and declined in the course of the 18th century as the Company traders moved to Bombay, Calcutta and Madras. Today it is nothing more than a dilapidated little town.