Internal conflicts ensued in Perak. In 1873, the ruler of one of Perak's two local Malay factions, Raja Abdullah Muhammad Shah II, wrote to the Governor of the British Straits Settlements, Andrew Clarke, requesting British assistance. This resulted in the Treaty of Pangkor, signed on Pangkor Island on 20 January 1874, under which the British recognised Abdullah as the legitimate Sultan of Perak. In return, the treaty provided for direct British intervention through the appointment of a Resident who would advise the sultan on all matters except religion and customs, and oversee revenue collection and general administration, including maintenance of peace and order. The treaty marked the introduction of a British residential system, with Perak going on to become part of the Federated Malay States (FMS) in 1895. It was also a shift from the previous British policy of non-intervention in Perak's affairs. James W. W. Birch was appointed as Perak's first British Resident. His inability to understand and communicate well with the locals, ignorance of Malay customs, and disparagement of the efforts of the Sultan and his dignitaries to implement British tax control and collection systems caused resentment. Local nationalist Maharaja Lela and the new monarch, Sultan Abdullah Muhammad Shah II, opposed him, and the following year, in 1875, Birch was assassinated through a conspiracy of local Malay dignitaries Seputum, Pandak Indut, Che Gondah, and Ngah Ahmad. The assassination angered the British authority, and the perpetrators were arrested and executed. The Sultan and his chiefs, also suspected of involvement in the plot, were banished to the British Seychelles in the Indian Ocean in 1876.