Oceania · The Islamic sultanates
Demak Sultanate
1475–1554
Demak was the first Muslim state on Java, located on the north (pasisir) coast at present-day Demak. Founded around 1475 by Raden Patah (Jin Bun, 1455–1518) — a figure of part-Chinese ancestry who remained a Majapahit vassal until c. 1478 — it was legitimized by the Wali Sanga (nine saints) as the successor state to Majapahit, with Raden Patah taking the title Panembahan Jimbun.
- Existed
- 1475–1554
- Shown on the map
- 1475–1551
- Peak area
- 46k km²
- Region
- Oceania
Overview
Demak was the first Muslim state on Java, located on the north (pasisir) coast at present-day Demak. Founded around 1475 by Raden Patah (Jin Bun, 1455–1518) — a figure of part-Chinese ancestry who remained a Majapahit vassal until c. 1478 — it was legitimized by the Wali Sanga (nine saints) as the successor state to Majapahit, with Raden Patah taking the title Panembahan Jimbun. Its port economy thrived on rice from the fertile hinterland and the spice trade through the Malacca Strait. The Demak Great Mosque, attributed to Sunan Kalijaga and built of timber in the classic Javanese tajug style, remains a landmark of Indonesian Islam. Islam reached Demak via Muslim traders from China, Gujarat, Arabia, and regional sultanates (Samudra Pasai, Malacca, Champa).
Decline and legacy
Rulers: Raden Patah (1475–1518); Pati Unus (1518–1521), "Pangeran Sabrang Lor," who attacked Portuguese Malacca in 1521 and died in that campaign; Trenggana (1521–1546), under whom Demak reached its zenith, spreading Islam and conquering along the north coast; Sunan Prawoto (Sunan Mukmin); and Arya Penangsang (1549–1554). The Demak–Majapahit conflicts (1478–1527) sealed Majapahit's end (1478 is conventionally used to date its fall). After the turmoil following Arya Penangsang's death in 1554, power passed to the Sultanate of Pajang under Hadiwijaya (Jaka Tingkir). The influential saint Sunan Kudus was a key religious-political figure of the era. Though it lasted only about a century, Demak established Islam as the dominant political-religious force on Java.
Common questions
- What was the Demak Sultanate?
- Demak was the first Muslim state on Java, located on the north (pasisir) coast at present-day Demak. Founded around 1475 by Raden Patah (Jin Bun, 1455–1518) — a figure of part-Chinese ancestry who remained a Majapahit vassal until c. 1478 — it was legitimized by the Wali Sanga (nine saints) as the successor state to Majapahit, with Raden Patah taking the title Panembahan Jimbun.
- When did the Demak Sultanate exist?
- The Demak Sultanate existed 1475–1554. On this map it is drawn 1475–1551.
- How large was the Demak Sultanate?
- At its greatest extent drawn on this map, the Demak Sultanate covered about 46,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.
- How did the Demak Sultanate end?
- Rulers: Raden Patah (1475–1518); Pati Unus (1518–1521), "Pangeran Sabrang Lor," who attacked Portuguese Malacca in 1521 and died in that campaign; Trenggana (1521–1546), under whom Demak reached its zenith, spreading Islam and conquering along the north coast; Sunan Prawoto (Sunan Mukmin); and Arya Penangsang (1549–1554). The Demak–Majapahit conflicts (1478–1527) sealed Majapahit's end (1478 is conventionally used to date its fall).
Sources
This compendium cites its sources once for the whole document rather than per territory. Its bibliography names the English Wikipedia article for each polity and its key rulers as the basis of these profiles, supplemented by Encyclopaedia Britannica, the World History Encyclopedia, museum and UN sources, Pacific news organisations, and the scholarship of Ricklefs, Andaya, Coedès, Carey, Sri Margana and Smith & Smith. The article this entry is anchored on:
- Wikipedia — Demak Sultanate en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demak_Sultanate
This entry was last updated .
This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made
Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.
Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).
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