ON JANUARY 18, 1737, a treaty of peace was signed between Governor-General Valdes Tamon and Alimud Din, the Sultan of Sulu, represented in Manila by Datu Mohammad Ismael and Datu Ja’far.
The treaty contained five articles: First, the preservation of permanent peace between the two states; second, the provision for alliance and mutual aid against any foreign foe; third, free trade between the two states; fourth, responsibility of each state for all infractions of the peace and fifth, provision for the exchange of captives and return of all church images and ornaments.
A man of peace and a reformer, Alimud Din also revised the Sulu code of laws and its system of justice.
He caused parts of the Qur’an and several texts on law and religion to be translated into the local language.
He was such a wise and enlightened ruler that he was said to have attained among his subjects “an authority almost supreme.” To him also was accorded the title of “Chief of Pandita” because of his erudite and precise explanations of the Qur’an.
Also he coined money, organized an army and tried to establish a navy. His name is foremost in the memory of the Sulus, partly because of his able administration and partly because of the fact that he was the ancestor of all the present principal Datus of the southern Philippines.
