 In 1755, a force of 1,900 Spanish soldiers led by the captains Simeón Valdez and Pedro Gastambide was sent to Jolo in revenge for the raids by Sultan Muiz ud-Din, but the Spaniards were defeated.In 1775, after a Moro raid on Zamboanga, Captain Vargas led a punitive expedition against Jolo, but his force was repulsed.In the second half of the 18th century, Great Britain became a new player in the archipelago After occupying Manila from 1762–64, during the Seven Years' War between Spain, Great Britain and other European powers, the British Army withdrew to the south and established trading alliances between the Sulu Sultanate and the British East India Company.