Gujarati and Persian merchants who embraced the Islam religion started to visit
Indonesia in the 13th century and established trade links with
Persia and
India. Along with the trade, they also propagated the Islam religion among the Indonesian Hindus, particularly in the coastal area of Java, such as in Demak. At a later stage they succeeded in influencing and even converting Hindu ruling Rajas to Islam.
The Hindu Raja of the Kingdom of Demak was the first in Java who converted to Islam. It was this Islam Sultan who later further spread Islam west of Demak in Cirebon up till Banten and then eastwards along the northern coast of Java to the Kingdom of Gresik and ultimately caused the downfall of the mighty Hindu Kingdom of Majapahit (1513-1520). After the subjugation of Majapahit by Islam rulers, Islam spread further east of the island of Java and established the Bone and Goa Sultanates in Sulawesi, and further east to the northern part of the Maluku where the Sultanates of Ternate and Tidore were established. North of Java, Islam spread to Banjarmasin in Borneo and further west on the island of Sumatra and converted Palembang, Minangkabau (West Sumatra), Pasai and Perlak to Islam. Meanwhile, Majapahit aristocratic descendants, religious scholars and Hindu Khsatryas ret through the East Java Peninsula of Blambangan, further eastwards to the island of Bali and Lombok. However, in later periods the eastern part of the island of Lombok was converted to Islam which infiltrated the island from Makassar in South Sulawesi.
The capital of the Hindu Kingdom of Pajajaran in West Java was Sunda Kelapa (1300 AD), which was situated at the present Capital of the Republic of Indonesia, Jakarta. This capital of the Sunda Kelapa Kingdom was conquered by an Islam General Falatehan of the Sultanate of Demak in 1527, and ever since renamed it Jaya-Karta meaning "the City of Victory." Besides conquering Sunda Kelapa, General Falatehan succeeded also in defeating the Portuguese who attempted to conquer mentioned city.
