Based on the account given in Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa (also known as the Kedah Annals), the Sultanate of Kedah was formed when King Phra Ong Mahawangsa converted to Islam and adopted the name Sultan Mudzafar Shah. At-Tarikh Salasilah Negeri Kedah described the conversion to Islamic faith as starting in 1136 CE. However, historian Richard Winstedt, quoting an Acehnese account, gave a date of 1474 for the year of conversion to Islam by the ruler of Kedah. This later date accords with an account in the Malay Annals, which describes a raja of Kedah visiting Malacca during the reign of its last sultan seeking the honour of the royal band that marks the sovereignty of a Malay Muslim ruler. The request by Kedah was in response to be Malacca's vassal, probably due to fears of Ayutthayan aggression.^[76] The first British vessel arrived in Kedah in 1592.^[77] In 1770, Francis Light was instructed by the British East India Company (BEIC) to take Penang from Kedah. He achieved this by assuring Sultan Muhammad Jiwa Zainal Adilin II that his army would protect Kedah from any Siamese invasion. In return, the sultan agreed to hand over Penang to the British.