Sunan Gunungjati

Sunan Gunungjati (1448-1580) was a Javanese wali who founded the city of Cirebon and the Banten Sultanate . Born as Syarif Hidayatullah in AD 1448, he was the son of Nyai Rara Santang, who was the daughter of Prabu Siliwangi (the ruler of Sunda kingdom ). His father was Syarif Abdullah Maulana Huda, a leader in Egypt of Hashimite descendant from Palestine . Sunan Gunungjati worked at Demak and Banten , and was the founder of Banten Sultanate. Many stories say that he was originally from Pasai in Aceh , others say that he was from Pajajaran (the capital of Sunda Kingdom) in West Java . He married the sister of Sultan Trenggono of Demak, and led military expeditions for Demak against Banten, a port of Sunda Kingdom (which was still Hindu at that time). As "Fatahillah" he defeated the Portuguese when they tried to take Sunda Kelapa (now Jakarta ) in 1527. Some stories have Sunan Gunungjati active around the 1470s and 1480s, under the name "Hidayatullah". Other stories have him active around the 1520s, and associate him with the name "Fatahillah". In the 1480s he would have been the grandson of the king of Sunda Kingdom from Pajajaran. In the late 1520s he would have fought the Portuguese near what is today Jakarta. The problem is that some stories say that he died in 1568, by which time he would have been as old as 120 years! Some scholars think that there may have been more than one Gunungjati.

Sunan Gunungjati (1448–1568) was one of the Wali Songo , or Nine Apostles of Islam. He founded the Sultanate of Banten , as well as the Sultanate of Cirebon on the north coast of Java . He was born Syarif Hidayatullah ( Sharīf Hidāyah Allāh in 1448 CE: the child of a dynastic union between Syarif Abdullah Maulana Huda, an Egyptian of Hashemite descent, and Nyai Rara Santang, daughter of the infamous Prabu Siliwangi , King of Sunda ( Pajajaran ). As such, Syarif Hidayatullah could claim descent, on his paternal side, from the Islamic prophet Muhammad , through his daughter, Fatima; and on his mother's side, a Hindu Devaraja of Sunda . There is much historical uncertainty as to his early life and later career in the Indonesian Archipelago. Some say that he was born in Pasai , one of the earliest centres of Islam in Southeast Asia; whilst others say that he was born in Pajajaran , capital of his maternal grandfather's Kingdom of Sunda. He is reported to have married a sister of Trenggono, Sultan of Demak, and to have led military expeditions for Demark against Sunda. As Fatahillah - so the story goes - he defeated the Portuguese at their base in Sunda Kelapa, and renamed it Jayakarta in 1527. To this day, his victory over the Portuguese is commemorated as the official anniversary of the founding of Jakarta. The many conflicting stories about Sunan Gunungjati led some scholars to conclude that he might be a conflation of more than one historical figure.

One of nine Islamic saints in Java Sunan Gunungjati (1448–1568) was one of the Wali Songo , or nine saints of Islam revered in Indonesia. He founded the Sultanate of Banten , as well as the Sultanate of Cirebon on the north coast of Java .

One of nine Islamic saints in Java Sunan Gunungjati (1448–1568) was one of the Wali Songo or nine saints of Islam revered in Indonesia for the propagation of Islam as the dominant religion in the region. He founded the Sultanate of Banten and the Sultanate of Cirebon on the north coast of Java .