Correct Option: A

In 1639 AD, the English East India Company purchased the village of Madraspatnam and one year later it established the Agency of Fort St George, precursor of the Madras Presidency, although there had been Company factories at Machilipatnam and Armagon since the very early 17th century. The Madras Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort St. George, was the work of several statesmen including Sir Thomas Munro who introduced the "Ryotwari System" there. In 1820, he was appointed governor of Madras, where he founded systems of revenue assessment and general administration which substantially persisted into the twentieth century. He also brought several reforms in the education sector of the presidency.