"The 6th overseas Chinese State" Nanyang Huaren,

Quoted from "The 6th overseas Chinese State" Nanyang Huaren, 1990

Demak

During the last decades of the 15th century the kingdom of Demak
which lasted from 1475 to 1568 was founded. Its founder was the son
of Haji Chen Xuanlong/Tan Swan Liong from Palembang in Southern
Sumatra where at that time existed a large Chinese community
consisting mainly of Muslims. His son's name is Chen Jinwen alias
Raden Patah/Panembahan Tan Jin Bun/Arya (Cu-Cu)
Sumangsang/Prabu Anom. The Portuguese addressed him as Pate
Rodin Sr. According to Tome Pires, a Portuguese explorer, he was
a "persona de grande syso" (a great man of exceptional wisdom),
a "cavaleiro" (noble knight). Indonesian professor Slamet Mulyana
explained that Jinwen or Jin Bun means "strongman".

The ruling elite of the kingdom of Demak consisted mainly of Chinese.
Before the European colonial area, intermarriage between Chinese and
the Javanese natives were commonplace. Dr. Pigeaud and Dr. de Graaf
described the conditions in the 16th century as follows: in the port cities
of the island of Java the ruling elites consisted mainly of Chinese
families, some of whose male members took Javanese women as their
wives. Various Javanese historical sources say that in the 16th century
there were many Chinese living in the cities along the Northern coastline
of Java. Apart from Demak, they were also numerous in Cirebon,
Lasem. Tuban, Gresik (Shi Chun) and Surabaya (Shi Shui). Many of
these Chinese Muslims had Arabic names.

One of Raden Patah Chen Jinwen's grandsons is known to have had the
ambition of being on par with the Turkish Sultan of the Ottoman empire.
According to de Graaf and Pigeaud, Chen Muming/Tan Muk Ming (Sunan
Prawata), the last Sultan of Demak said to Manuel Pinto that he was
striving as hard as possible to become "o segundo Turco" (the second
Turkish Sultan) equal to the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman I in grandeur. It
is evident that other than going on a haj pilgrimage, he visited Turkey.

A number of Javanese sources emphasise that the sultans of the Demak
sultanate were Chinese. It is not possible to include all the names of
Chinese historical figures for the number of which is too many. Amongst
others there were Raden Hussein (Pang Jinshan/Bong Kin San, a cousin
of Chen Jinwen), Sunan Bonang (An Wen'an/An Bun Ang), Sunan Drajat
(Pang Dajing/Bong Tak Keng) son of Sunan Ampel alias Rahmat Pang
Suihe/Bong Swie Ho), sunan Kalijaga (Gan Xichang/Gan Si Chang),
Sunan Kudus (Jaffar Zha Dexu/Ja Tik Su), Haji Maulana Ifdil Hanafi Chen
Yinghua/Tan Eng Hoat, Endrasena the last commander-in-chief of
Sunan Giri's armies, Pangrean Hadiri alias Sunan Mantingan who was
the husband of Ratu Kalinyamat, Ki Rakim, Nyi Gede Pinatih (Shi
Tainiang/Sie Tay Nio) mother of Raden Paku and daughter of Admiral
Shi Jinqing/Sie Chin Ching who was the overlord of the Chinese
community at Palembang. Princess Chen Wangtian/Tan Ong Tien who
was a daughter of Haji Chen Yinghua who is the wife of Sunan Gunung
Jati (Syarif Hidaytullah Du Anbo/Toh A Bo) founder of the Cirebon
sultanate, Cekong Mas (from the Han family, his tomb is located in a
prayer house at Prajekan near Situbondo in East Java and is regarded
as a sacred place), Adipati Astrawijaya-regent chosen by the Dutch East
India Company but sided with rebels when the Chinese in Semarang
Central Java rose in revolt against the Dutch in 1741 and Kanjeng Raden
Tumenggung (KRT-a noble title) Secodiningrat (Chen Jinxing/Tan JIn
Seng). According to professor Mulyana, Sunan Giri from his paternal
side is a grandson of Rahmat Wang Suihe, a Chinese Muslim from
Yunnan province, China, who, served as governor of Champa in present
day Vietnam, prior to his arrival in Java where he became the chief
coordinator of the Chinese community in Southeast Asia.

Chinese architectural influences are evident in the design of the
mosques in Java. It was Islam of the Hanafiyah school of thought that
first entered Southern Sumatra and Java from China during the Yuan
and the Ming dynasty periods. Professor Mulyana opines if Islam on the
Northern coastline of Java came from Malacca or Eastern Sumatra, it
will have been of the Syafi or Shiite school of thought but it is not the
case in reality. He stresses that until the 13th century the Hanafi school
existed only in Central Asia, China, Northern India, parts of the Middle
East/Maghreb (Islamic North Africa) and Turkey.

Massive waves of emigration from China to Southern Sumatra, Java and
other parts of Southeast Asia began in 1385, 17 years after the
inception of the Ming dynasty. Long before that Champa was occupied
by Nasaruddin, a Muslim general in Kublai Khan's armies. General
Nasaruddin is supposed to have propagated Islam in Cochin CHina. A
number of Chinese Muslim centres were established in Champa,
Palembang and East Java.

In the year 1413 when Admiral Muhammad Ma Huan arrived in Java
together with Admiral Zheng He along with the Chinese armada, he
noted that most of the Chinese residents there were Muslims as well as
the Dashi (Arab) people. At that time there were no Javanese Muslims
yet. Between 1513-1514, Tome Pires described Gresik in East Java as a
properous city controlled by the Chinese. In 1451, Ngampel Denta was
set up by Rahmat Wang Suihe alias Sunan Ampel to disseminate Islam
among the natives. Prior to that he managed a Chinese Muslim centre
at Bangil, also in East Java.

It is interesting to note that at least until the time of Japanese
occupation (1942-1945), in the city of Malang in East Java, the local
natives still addressed the newly arrived Chinese as 'Kyai'. Kyai means
Islamic religious teacher. Whereas most Chinese who came recently to
Southeast Asia were not Muslims. This habit was inherited from the
past when most of the Chinese settlers/sojourners in Java were
Muslims. The title Sunan is derived from the Fujian dialect 'Suhu/Saihu'.
8 of the Walisongo (9 Holy Saints) carried the title Sunan, one of them
carried the title Syekh from the Arabic Sheikh; all 9 of them are Chinese
who belong to the Hanafite school of Islam.

A natural conclusion to this is that the Islamic missionaries of the
Hanafiyah school of thought at that time were mainly Chinese. This can
more or less be compared to the spread of Christianity from Europe to
the other continents. Until the 19th century, these Christian missionaries
who spread their religion overseas were mostly Europeans. China's land
mass is more vast than that of Europe. Making a comparison with China
cannot be done with one of the European nations but has to be done
with Europe as a whole. Like Europe, China is home to much ethnic and
linguistic diversity, however the advantage of the Chinese in this matter
is that the Chinese ideograms can be commonly understood by different
groups of Chinese in spite of their dissimilarities in spoken tongue.

Lit.:

- De Graaf and Pigeaud "De eerste Moslimse Vorstendommen op
Java", "Islam in Java 1500-1700".

- Amen Budiman "Chinese Muslims in Indonesia".

- Slamet Mulyana "A story of Majapahit".

- Slamet Mulyana "The Fall of the Javanese Hindu Kingdoms and the
Rise of Islam in Nusantara".

- Jan Edel "Biography of Hasanuddin".