In return for the favors which he received from the English, Alimud Din ceded to them that part of North Borneo lying between Cape Inarstang and the River Frimanis with the adjacent Island of Balambangan and the Island of Tulayan. Balambangan was soon after that occupied and garrisoned by English forces.
In the later days of his reign, Alimud Din was addressed as Amirul Mu’minin (The Prince of the Faithful) by which name he is better known to the Sulus. Moro incursions increased at that time and the Sulus became so daring as to invade the Bay of Manila in 1769, carry away captives from the wharves of the city, and appear at the Plaza del Palacio at retreat before they were repulsed or even detected. Becoming old and weak, Amirul Mu’minin abdicated the sultanate in favor of his son Israel, in November, 1773.
Reign of Sultan Israel
Sultan Israel followed the same progressive policy which characterized his father’s administration. However, his succession was contested by rivals, and the people were not unanimous in his support. In his foreign relations with the English and Spaniards he was at the beginning uncertain as to the side toward which to lean. Both powers had an eye on Sulu and appeared interested in its affairs. However, before long he refused the request of the English to be allowed to move their factory from Balambangan to Tandu-dayang, in the neighborhood of Jolo, and exchanged messages of friendship with King Carlos III, who congratulated Israel on his succession to the sultanate and thanked him for his action relative to the removal of the Balambangan factory to Sulu Island.[65] The early education Israel received in Manila, together with the consideration with which the Spanish authorities treated him at that time, helped to win his sympathies to the Spanish side and to form a sort of an alliance between Sulu and Spain against Great Britain. Such an alliance was further needed to strengthen his hand in Sulu, for the purpose of checking any insurrection that might be fomented by rival datus or unfriendly chiefs. The Spaniards promised to help him in his endeavors to organize an army and a navy; and, he on his part, agreed to open the ports of Sulu for free commerce with the Philippine Islands. He further asked the Spanish Government for capital to work his mines, promising to pay back one-fifth of the output.
In 1774 and 1776, Jolo was visited by Captain Thomas Forrest, who in his “Voyage to New Guinea” described the town and country as he saw them. His account is so interesting and so clear that the following extracts[66] are quoted therefrom:
They have a great variety of fine tropical fruits; the oranges are fully as good as those of China. They have also a variety of the fruit called jack, or nangka, durians, a kind of large custard apple named madang, mangos, mangustines * * *. The Sulus having great connection with China, and many Chineses being settled amongst them, they have learned the art of ingrafting and improving their fruits * * *.
The capital town is called Bawang,[67] situated by the seacoast, on the northwest part of the island, and containing about 6,000 inhabitants. Many of them were Ilanun * * *.
This island * * * is well cultivated, affording a fine prospect from the sea, on every side far superior to that of Malay countries in general * * *.
Here are wild elephants, the offspring, doubtless, of those sent in former days, from the continent of India[68] as presents to the kings of Sulu. Those animals avoid meeting with horned cattle, though they are not shy of horses. After harvest the Sulus hunt the elephants and wild hog, endeavoring to destroy them * * *. Sulu has spotted deer, abundance of goats, and black cattle.
The pearl fishery * * * proves also to the Sulus the cause of their consequence amongst their neighbors, as being a nursery for seamen, ready to man a fleet of praus upon an emergency * * *. The praus [boats] of the Sulus are very neatly built, from 6 to 40 tons burden, sail well, and are all fitted with the tripod mast.[69] * * *