Joseph François Dupleix, the French Governor-General of Pondicherry, was the first European statesman to systematically intervene in dynastic disputes of Indian potentates (in Hyderabad and the Carnatic) to secure territorial concessions, revenues, and political leverage. His tactical innovations—maintaining European-officered sepoy armies at native expense and placing political residents at native courts—were later adopted and expanded by Robert Clive and Lord Wellesley to erect the British Raj.