 However, distance from the powerful Datus at the court in Tawi-Tawi made relations between them more and more tenuous.These Datus grew increasingly hostile to Azim ud-Din I as the years progressed, having been seen as a friend of the Spanish.They hatched a plot that would eventually lead to Azim ud-Din's removal as Sultan in favor of his younger brother, who was known to Spanish officials and missionary priests as Pangiran Bantilan or Datu Bantilan.