Note 4 — LETTER OF A JESUIT TO HIS BROTHER

See the detailed account of this episode, and of events connected with it, in Concepción’s Hist. de Philipinas, xii, chaps, ii–v, which may thus briefly be summarized:

In 1735 Maulana, sultan of Joló, abdicated in favor of his son Mahamad Alimudin. This youth was “brought up in the school of his father,” in matters of craft and policy; he had spent some time at Batavia, where he became proficient in the Arabic and Malayan languages, and in the Koran—“which he explained with so much erudition that the Joloans gave him the title of chief pandita of that kingdom,” and he attained among the Moros “an authority almost supreme.” He negotiated for peace with the Spaniards, which was effected in 1737; he promised to restore the Christian captives, but his datos resented this, and refused to obey. In May, 1740, a Recollect priest, Fray Hypolito de San Agustin, was captured by Moro pirates; but certain Joloans—especially their pandita, one Yaloc—rescued him and took him to Joló, where he was kindly received and cared for. The sultan demanded a ransom of 12,000 pesos for him; after many difficulties and negotiations, and some aid from the Jesuits, the captive priest secured his liberty by binding the Recollect province to pay the amount demanded for ransom. Soon afterward, the sultan was persuaded by Commandant Zacharias and the Jesuit Isasi at Zamboanga to commute his claim to 1,000 pesos, which was gladly paid by the Recollects. The peace made with Alimudin stopped the invasions by the Joloans, but the Tirones from the Bornean coast continued their destructive raids. Remonstrances being made at Madrid by the representatives of Philippine interests, the king wrote the letters to the rulers of Joló and Tamontaca (the latter being Ameril Mahomenin Campsa), which have been previously mentioned in this series; they were received at Manila in July, 1746, and were sent to their destination by the hands of the Jesuits Isasi and Arcada. These envoys conducted various negotiations with the sultan, who demanded (and received) from the Manila government aid of money, guns, and iron—for Joló, to repay him for the expenses which he had incurred in aiding the Spaniards against the Tirones; for Tamontaca (or Mindanao), to aid in the war with Gula, the son of the rebel Malinog. Arrangements were made for the opening of Jesuit missions in Joló and Tamontaca; but they soon came to naught. In September, 1748, a rebellion in Joló unseated Alimudin, and sent him a fugitive to Zamboanga; and, Ameril and Gula having become reconciled, threatened treachery sent the Jesuit Moreno back from Tamontaca to the same refuge. Alimudin went to Manila, here he was received with much éclat by Governor Arrechedera; he was there apparently converted to the Christian faith by the governor’s persuasions. ↑