People from the XXII Mukims (one of the three regions or sagis of Aceh) held the prestigious Baiturrahman Grand Mosque in the capital and opposed the new sultan.
The most influential person at the court was Mantri Makota Raja, a scion of the sultan's family of Siak Sri Indrapura who handled affairs on behalf of the young ruler.
[2] According to the account of the British navigator Thomas Forrest the sultan's relationship with the orang kayas (grandees) was poor during his first years.
Events in the mid-eighteenth century also gave an upswing to Aceh's economic role: The British were established in the Sumatran ports Natal and Tapanuli in 1751 and 1756 in order to support the pepper trade of Bengkulu.
The background was the inner tensions in the sultanate; the ruler tried to control commercial activities in the various parts of his kingdom without having the bureaucratic apparatus to implement this, which enraged the chiefs.
Alauddin Mahmud Syah escaped to Kota Musapi by the coast where he was assisted by a cleric, qadi Malik ul-Adil.
His elder son Muhammad was later on married to the daughter of Badr ul-Alam Syah, apparently as an attempt of reconciliation between the political factions of Aceh.
Meanwhile, the Acehnese panglima laut (sea commander) continued to expand the influence of the sultanate on the northern west coast.