 The British East India Company sought control of Penang Island as a Royal Navy base, and a trading post between China and the Indian subcontinent.Light negotiated with the new Sultan of Kedah, Sultan Abdullah Mukarram Shah, regarding the cession of Penang Island to the British East India Company in exchange for British military assistance and a lease of 6,000 Spanish dollars to cancel Kedah's debts to Siam.With the agreement between Light and the Kedah Sultan successfully concluded, Light and his entourage sailed on to Penang Island, where they arrived on 17 July 1786.