The Sultanate and the Company had been engaged in discussions at least since 1771, when Sultan Muhammad Jiwa Zainal Adilin II had asked the Governor of Madras, at that time Josias Du Pre, for assistance against a rebellion.[1] In 1772 a Company mission came to Kedah under Edward Monckton; but the conclusion was negative, to the effect that the Sultan planned aggression against Selangor to the south.[2]