PATI UNUS (ADIPATI YUNUS)

By the end of the 15th century and entering the early 16th century the intensity of da'wah and trade competition in Southeast Asia was indeed increasing very rapidly, the exchange of information from a network of scholars had formed in such a way through trade routes that had existed for hundreds of years. 

The Fall of Malacca to the Portuguese in 1511 was a major event that marked the European expansion in Southeast Asia. This has to do with the nature of their arrogance and the lust for trade monopolies that have never been shown before by other nations. On the other hand, since the capture of Goa in India, the Portuguese have shown that their purpose of domination is not merely to seek economic gain but to vanquish the Muslims, as their main interest. 

Demak immediately took steps to strengthen relations with the Banten-Cirebon sultanate to provide alternative trade routes if Muslim traders refused to cross the Malacca route if they wanted to go to Maluku. The alternative route can be taken through Pasai, then west and comb through the west coast of Sumatra and enter through the Sunda Strait controlled by the Sultanate of Banten, then comb the Java Sea and continue towards Gowa to Maluku.

Therefore, not only Aceh or the sultanates in Sumatra, but the fall of Malacca also become a concern for Demak as the main Islamic kingdom in Java to try to liberate Malacca from the Portuguese. 

In response to this, Pati Unus as the commander-in-chief of the Demak Sultanate once said: 

"If Demak wants to stay alive, do not let the Portuguese control our areas. Now Malacca has fallen into their hands. Of course, tomorrow they will attack Demak, Aceh and Palembang. Therefore we must unite and together attack the Portuguese in Malacca."

Based on the accounts of Cirebon and Syair Awang Simawn, Pati Unus or Adipati Yunus was born in Mecca, while his parents were on a hajj, in 1481 and was raised up in Syria. His Javanese name was Raden Surya and his Arabic name was Abdul Khidr (Qadir), Islamic name for the prophet Elijah who was believed to have gone to Java after his mission in Israel. But he was more popularly known as Ibn Yunus, being the son of a certain Yunus in reference to the prophet Jonah who came to Nineveh inside a giant fish. 

There was a prince mentioned in the Malay Annals who was carried by an albicore or alu-alu fish (but most probably a dolphin), after jumping from his sinking ship, to Mempawah in western Borneo and later married a princess of Samudra-Pasai. 

The Jonah-like prince was named as Mani Farendan, the son of Raja Nizam al-Mulc Akber Shah of the Chera Kingdom in the present-day Kerala in India who was said to be a descendant of Alexander the Great and the keeper of the kris Dhul Fakr of King Solomon, which was said to be the same sword used by the archangel Michael, who came to Mindanao (the biblical Ophir) with King Hiram of Tyre (Raja Indarapatra of Mantapoli) in the ancient times and was handed down to the descendants of Ali, the son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad. 

The event must had happened in 1443 after the invasion of Deva Raya II of Vijayanagara Empire defeating the ruler of the Chera Kingdom.

In 1500, Demak becoming a Muslim sultanate under Raden Patah declared its independence as a sovereign state no longer subject to Majapahit. The conflict led to continued war between Demak and the Majapahit rump in Daha.

During this year, Pati Unus who was known in the Mamluk sultanate as Amir Husain Al-Kurdi (a.k.a. Raden Abdul Qadir) arrived in Central Java from Syria. Later he married the princess of Samudra-Pasei, Ratu Mas, the daughter of Raden Patah. Thus making him the son-in-law of Raden Patah. Raden Patah who had become the Sultan of Demak I (who was popularly known in Maguindanao and Sulu in his personal name Hassan and on his regnal title in Sulu as Datu Gamban) appointed him as Duke of Japara. 

Pati Unus, who was also called as Ja'far al-Sadiq or Pangeran Magelung, was the son of Syarifah Mudaim and the Mamluk Sultan Yunus Pasha (Sharif Abdullah Maulana Mas Huda). Pati Unus was actually Nurullah, the younger brother of Sharif (Amir) Hidayatullah (who was born in Cairo, Egypt in 1476 not 1448). Nurullah's personal name was Hussein. He was trained as a janissary in the Ottoman Empire, rose from the rank as an agha (top commander) and appointed as governor of Syria and Hejaz which included the cities of Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Tabuk, Yanbu and Taif. 

As a direct descendant from the line of Ali, the son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad, and as a warrior he assumed the name Ali Ba 'Alawi al-Husaini. He was known in Banjarmasin and Sulu as Alawi or Awi and Bolkiah or Awang Semawn in Brunei while Hidayatullah was known as Ahmad or Awang Alak Betatar in Brunei and Al-Mansur in Tidore. 

He was mentioned as among the visiting merchants in Ternate who were propagating Islam. He was mentioned as a Javanese Muslim called Hussein, or Dato Maulana Hussein, who was also a preacher. The Ternatans were as yet unacquainted with reading and writing, and were stunned when Hussein and his boys were able to read out words from the letters of the Qur'an. Hussein told the bystanders that these were holy letters that no one may read without knowing God and his Prophet. In that way the first tenets of Islam entered north Moluccan society. 

Pati Unus had a younger brother-in-law named Trenggana, born in 1483, who first assumed the throne of Demak in 1505-1507. He used the regnal name Sultan Ahmad Abdul Arifin. In 1507, he went to Sulu and then to Mindanao. He established the Sultanate of Maguindanao where he used the regnal name Sultan Muhammad Kabungsuwan. By marrying the Maranao princess, Putri Tuniña or Angin Tabo, an adopted daughter of a local momole, he became the Kolano Tabo (shortened Kolanbo) of Sabah and Mindanao.

Amir Husain Al-Kurdi, (أمیر حسین الکردي), named the Mirocem or Mir-Hocem or Mihir Hussain  by the Portuguese or Marhum in the Far End, was a governor of the city of Jeddah in the Red Sea, then part of the Egyptian Mamluk Sultanate, in early 16th century. He stood out as admiral of the Mamluk fleet fought by the forces of the Portuguese Empire in the Indian Ocean. Shortly after the arrival of the Portuguese to the Indian sea, Mirocem was sent by the last Mamluk Sultan, Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghawri, to defend his interests in the sea, including the defense of the fleets of Muslim pilgrims to Mecca, then part of the sultanate.

Prior to his arrival in Java, there was already an ongoing war over the succession of the throne of Majapahit. It started in 1468 when Bhre Kertabhumi, the biological father of Raden Patah, usurped the Majapahit throne of Singhavikramavardhana and reigned as Brawijaya V. To keep Majapahit influence and economic interest, he had awarded Muslim merchant trading rights on the north coast of Java but it weakened Hindu-Buddhism's position as the dominant religion as Islam began to spread faster and more freely in Java.

But in 1478, after 10 years of Singhavikramavardhana's exile in Daha, his son Girindrawardhana (Prabu Anom), supported by religious tensions, consolidated a power base to retake the throne. Together with his renda (commander of the army) named Sang Udara, son of the grand vizier Gadjah Mada, Girindrawardhana attacked Trowulan, the seat of Majapahit. Kerabhumi was killed. Girindrawardhana after reuniting the Majapahit kingdom ruled as Brawijaya VI until he was killed and replaced by Udara in 1498, the year when Bendahara Tun Perak of Malacca died, and ruled as Prabu Udara or Manggambo Donggo.

In 1507, Raden Patah resumed to the throne of Demak and inaugurated the newly renovated Demak Grand Mosque which was built in 1479.

In 1508, Pati Unus, as Mirocem, joined Malik Ayyaz, an admiral from Gujarat, as leader of the Mamluk fleet at the battle of Chaul, where they faced and defeated the fleet of Lourenço de Almeida, son of the Portuguese viceroy of India, Francisco de Almeida. Following this battle, he was fiercely fought by the viceroy himself, who in 1509 invested and won the Battle of Diu seeking Mirocem to avenge the death of his son and free the Portuguese prisoners made at Chaul in 1508.

The Battle of Diu was a naval battle fought on February 3, 1509 in the Arabian Sea, in the port of Diu, India, between the Portuguese Empire and a joint fleet of the Sultan of Gujarat, the Mamlûk Burji Sultanate of Egypt, and the Zamorin of Calicut with support of the Republic of Venice and the Ottoman Empire. It was a battle of annihilation similar to the Battle of Lepanto and the Battle of Trafalgar, and one of the most important of world naval history, for it marks the beginning of European dominance over Asian seas that would last until the Second World War. Ferdinand Magellan, Francisco Serrano and Duarte Barbosa were among the Portuguese who battled against the Mirocem.

After the Battle of Diu, Pati Unus, who was also known as Laksamana Khoja Hussain, went to Malacca and was ordered by Sultan Mahmud Shah to kill the Portuguese, led by Diogo Lopez de Sequeira. But he replied, according to the report of the Portuguese Tome Pires, "This business is contrary to justice and I don't want to be in it, and I tell you that I would rather fight against a thousand such men than against these, not because I fear them, but because my heart is not in such a decision."

In 1511, the delicate balance between Demak and Daha ended when Udara, seeing an opportunity to eliminate Demak, asked help in Malacca, forcing Demak to attack both Malacca and Daha to end this alliance. 

From the cooperation between the three Javanese Islamic sultanates built by Sharif Hidayatullah as the builder of the Muslim community, Pati Unus was appointed as the Joint Commander of the Islamic Fleet in charge of the Banten, Demak and Cirebon fleets. With the appointment of Pati Unus as the supreme commander, he was given the title of Senapati Sarjawala with the main task of reclaiming the land of Malacca that had fallen into the hands of the Portuguese.

Samudra-Pasai fell into the hands of the Portuguese in 1512 which urged Pati Unus, as the Commander of the Islamic Fleet, to come up with a plan. Aside from preparing troops and war ammunition, he sent Javanese spies, acting as traders, to Malacca. From these spies, he had known that cannons had been prepared at the Portuguese defensive fort, the A Formosa, at the top of the hill. With this development, he had made modification on the placement of the cannons in his warships. 

Believing that the preparation was sufficient, Sultan Patah ordered Pati Unus to attack Malacca. A fleet with a total of about 100 ships and 5,000 troops had been dispatched from the port of Jepara. From Jepara the fleet sailed west towards the island of Sumatra particularly to Palembang. After getting an additional of 7,000 troops from Palembang, the fleet continued to Malacca. But on its way, Pati Unus and his troops stopped temporarily in the area around the Kampar river, in Indragiri. From Kampar the journey continued towards the northwest, close to Malacca.

Within this year also, in the absence of the Laksamana, Pati Unus was crowned as the Sultan of Brunei.

By January 1513, Pati Unus tried to give a surprise attack at the Portuguese in Malacca. But the Portuguese, upon hearing of the arrival of the fleet from Demak, prepared the troops at the fort and mobilized a fleet composed of 17 ships with 350 soldiers in order to block the Islamic forces led by Pati Unus from leaving Malacca and then led them to enter the Muar river. Later in this river, the Portuguese forces sank and burned many Demak ships.

With more sophisticated artillery than the cannons of Pati Unus naval force, the Portuguese could easily attack, destroy and sink the ships of Pati Unus with long-range firings. 

Seeing this, Pati Unus decided to retreat and return to Java. From the story of the resistance he did, the Javanese then gave him the nickname of Pangeran Sabarang Lor which means "the Prince who crossed to the North (Malacca)".

Although the first mission to liberate Malacca has not succeeded in shaking the Portuguese, but the spirit of the Islamic sultanates in Java has not completely faded. This is due to the condition of the sultanates around Malacca which are still busy with conflict and succession of leadership, so Demak felt obliged to carry out the mission of liberation of Malacca, especially on the Portuguese side who were doing it very clearly in the spirit of resistance against Muslims.

From this, the Demak party immediately made a plan for the second attack. But it did not go smoothly just like that. Knowing the defeat of Demak against the Portuguese, the Muslims were disturbed by the presence of Prabu Udara as the ruler of Kediri or the remnants of the old Majapahit who cooperated with the Portuguese and asked for the help of soldiers and war equipment to be used against Demak. 

This of course made Sultan Fatah angry, so that in 1517, after Pati Unus, together with the Ottoman fleet of Selman Reis, successfully defended Jeddah from the Portuguese fleets of Lopo Soares de Albergaria, soon before the fall of the Mamluk regime, Pati Unus was ordered to immediately extinguish the resistance of the Kediri rulers so as not to have any further contact with the Portuguese. The Portuguese-Majapahit alliance at Daha was defeated.

In 1518, Pati Unus resumed on his plan on attacking Malacca. Preparations were made from logistics and war troops until a fleet of 375 ships made by the Juwana, Guwa and Butuan shipyards was ready to be mobilized. 

A terrible war ensued as soon as two nearby forces broke out -- a warfare using sophisticated cannons of considerable sizes; bullets in the shape of fireballs darting a very far distance as to hit the opponent; and ships moving forward in unison, as well as the difficulty of dodging the onslaught of artillery shells. The fierce raging war lasted for almost three days and three nights without interruption. In the battle, Demak and the Portuguese exchanged positions between defending and attacking. 

However, it turned out that fate was not in Demak's favor. The jung ship used by Pati Unus was hit by a fatal shot, while the Sultan of Demak also fell along with the sinking of the ship he was on. Sultan Patah died. Pati Unus ordered to withdraw the troops towards the coast of Sumatra. After taking into account the number of victims and losses suffered by each party, finally the joint forces under the leadership of Demak returned to the island of Java. Trenggana assumed the throne of Demak for forty days as part of the traditional mourning of the dead. Pati Unus then assumed the throne of Demak and became the Sultan of Demak II. 

In 1520, the Portuguese-Majapahit alliance expelled Pati Unus and his men from Brunei, a Majapahit mandala in the north of Borneo, towards the Serudung River at the Temburung District in Sabah. Prabu Udara acted as the new sultan under the Muslim guise of Sultan Abdul Kahar or an impostor of Sultan Abdul Qadir (Bolkiah).

In March 1521, Pati Unus (Alawi or Awi) and Trenggana (Kolanbo Muhammad Kabungsuwan) was staying in Kuala Labo, Temburung District at the border of Sarawak and Sabah on a head-hunting mission when the Magellan expedition arrived in the area. 

Demak prior to the said event was usurped by an impostor, Prabu Udara, who acted as the Panembahan Jimbun or Sultan of Demak. Jimbun was pronounced by Chinese merchants as Jimubun or Jumabun. He was the impostor or con-man mentioned by Antonio Pigafetta in his chronicle as Raia Humabon or Hamabar by other chroniclers in the Magellan expedition.

Prabu Udara

Java particularly Demak in Central Java was called by the Chinese as She-po or Sho-po which was pronounced as Zebu and Zubu since Java could also be spoken as Jebo or Jobo, respectively, by the natives.

Prior to the Battle of Matan, according to oral history, the daughter of Raden Patah, who was in a pesantren near the Sambas or Matan River, the source of diamonds, was "devoured by white crocodiles", later it was found out that the said daughter was raped and killed by the white crocodiles who transformed into male human beings. A certain holy man (probably Trenggana) instructed Pati Unus to poison the said crocodile-men inside a room in a banquet then afterward skinned them alive for revenge. 

This was an allegory of the rape of his daughter by Duarte Barbosa's men who were poisoned in a banquet and then skinned alive which happened on April 24, 1521 just three or four days before the Battle of Matan. Francisco Serrano who was the cousin of Ferdinand Magellan was among those who were poisoned and skinned alive. 

So the said battle was a holy war on both sides mixed with vengeance. Pati Unus, Trenggana and Zeinal Abidin wanted to avenge the murder of Ratu Mas Ayu and declared a holy war against the tyrant Christians while Ferdinand Magellan wanted to avenge the murder of his cousin Francisco Serrano and declared a holy war against the treacherous Muslims.

After the victory in the Battle of Matan and after the 14 days mourning, as part of the traditional val puja, in Lawe over the death of Hang Tuah (Ali Zeinal Abidin a.k.a. Ciri Leliatu or "Cilapulapu"), who accordingly was unceremoniously thrown into the sea during the battle, Pati Unus was installed as the new Sultan of Brunei under the regnal title Bolkiah or Buluqiya. 

After he was installed in Brunei, Pati Unus had heard that the "celestial nymph" of Johor was in Sulu and that she was keeping the nobats of both the empires of Majapahit and Sri Vijaya -- the two giant pearls.

Pati Unus immediately sailed to but was shipwrecked and was saved by Putri Layla Manjanay, the daughter of Sultan Kamal ud-Din who was also called as Sultan Nasuran, the one mentioned as Suran in the Malay Annals. Pati Unus was called by the natives as Bolkiah or Bantugan. 

The prince fell in love with the princess of remarkable beauty and asked her hand in marriage. After passing a lot of tests set by Layla Manjanay the couple were engaged. But it was found out later that they were siblings.

Sultan Kamal ud-Din was Daeng Mempawa of western Borneo who became known as Raja Tua of Brunei and Hang Tuah of Malacca who later rose as Walangsungsang of Pajajaran and Cakrabuana of Cirebon. After his hajj to Mecca with his sister Rarasantang (Syarifah Mudaim), Cakrabuana was conferred an Islamic name of Abdullah Sulaiman. He was actually Al-Aziz Jamal ad-Din Yuzuf who rose the throne of Egypt when he was still 14 years old after the death of his father Baybars (who must be the same with Pateh Berbai and Sharif Ali of Brunei and with Sultan al-Hashim 'Abu Bakr of Sulu) but reigned for only 3 months from June to September 1438 as he was ousted by his 65-year-old atabeg guardian Sayf ad-Din Jaqmaq. He was imprisoned but released by the revolting emirs of the sultanate, led by Korkmaz Al-Sha'abani, and escaped. Jaqmaq sent an army led by Akabgha Al-Tamrazi to fight the rebellious emirs who were eventually defeated and captured. Korkmaz Al-Sha'abani was arrested and executed. Al-Aziz Jamal ad-Din Yusuf was exiled in Alexandria. But in 1444, Sultan Mahmud Moin-ud-din Shah Rukh of the Timurid Empire had sent his consort, Gawhar Shad, as an ambassador to Egypt asking for permission to provide a Kiswah for the Kaabah. Jaqmaq initially refused and then accepted the offer despite public opposition. When Shah Rukh's ambassador arrived in Cairo with the Kiswah, she was received by throwing stones from the public who was opposed to the entry. Jaqmaq repressed the revolt and allowed the ambassador to go to Mecca. Unknown to him, Al-Aziz Jamal ad-Din Yusuf was being transported to Mecca inside the casket covered with the Kiswah. Sharif Barakat, the Emir of Mecca, gladly received him and acknowledged him as the true crown prince of Mamluk Sultanate. Al-Aziz Jamal ad-Din Yusuf later migrated to the "Lands Below The Winds" and strengthened himself as a warrior and as a scholar, hiding his real extraordinary identity to the public. He was widely known in the Far End as Ali Zainal Abidin, perhaps a corruption from Jāmal to Zenal. 

On the other hand, Layla Manjanay, the reknown Puteri Gunung Ledang (Celestial Nymph of Ophir) and the Poetri Mesir (Egyptian Princess), was no other than Gandasari, daughter of Rarasantang and Yunus Pasha (Sharif Abdullah Maulana Mas Huda) who was taken by Cakrabuana from Samudra-Pasei when still a baby and adopted as his daughter. 

But even after knowing the truth, Pati Unus still insisted to pursue on the wedding even amidst the prohibition by the imam reminding him that incest was a taboo based on the laws of the lands. Pati Unus declared that the laws of the lands did not cover the seas, so the wedding must be held in a ship at the middle of the sea. He assumed the throne of Sulu as Sultan Amir ul-Umara (Amir Al-Bahr or Hamabar which means Commander of the Sea) and the throne of Brunei as Sultan Bolkiah.

After the wedding, Layla Manjanay, sitting at the deck, was knitting a handkerchief. Unknown to her, Pati Unus was walking behind and was about to embrace her when a storm suddenly hit the ship. Layla Manjanay was frightened by the rush of winds and startled by the embrace of Pati Unus that she accidentally stabbed his finger. Pati Unus was bleeding and fainted. In terror, believing that Pati Unus was dead, Layla Manjanay jumped into the sea but she was rescued and was brought to Sulu where she disguised as her husband and assumed the throne as a male sultan named Sultan Nur ul-Alam. And she reigned until 1533 following the Kerala (Keling) tradition that a warrior-king (cheraman perumal) must only rule for 12 years.

But unknown to many, as Pati Unus (Khoja Husain Tuan Alawi) did not die because of that needle. Believing that Layla Manjanay was dead, he went to China with Hidayatullah (Tuan Al-Mansur) and Trenggana (Tuan Muhammad), spying the Portuguese, led by Tome Pires. He represented himself as an envoy of Sultan Abdullah Sulayman (Raja Tua or Hang Tuah), the ghostwriter and the impostor of Sultan Mahmud Shah of Malacca (who really died in Pahang after the seige of Malacca in 1511), who was basing in Bintan, in the Riau archipelago. He did all his best to be close with the teenage Chinese emperor Wu-zong. He became the emperor's favourite that he even ate and slept with him in his hostel or in his imperial palace in Beijing. He insinuated the emperor hatred against the Portuguese citing that Sultan Mahmud Shah of Malacca complained that the Portuguese seized his country and engaged in killing. 

The Chinese censors, Qiu Dao-long and He Ao advised the young emperor, "The Portuguese acted rebelliously, declared themselves masters, driven off a country's king, seized and eaten children, acted violently and cruelly and brought disaster to the people of China. They should be immediately driven away beyond the borders, the walls and buildings they have constructed should be razed, and there should be thorough investigation and punishment. The artisans and merchants there should be charged with the crime of having dealings with foreign invaders."

The young Emperor Wu-zong approved the proposal and ordered the execution of the Potuguese. A series of execution of the Portuguese prisoners was done until 1529. 

Pati Unus, on one occasion, had encountered a conflict with palace supervising secretary Liang Zhuo. On meeting the secretary who was lesser in rank than him who himself was a sultan of his country did not bow and kneel. Zhuo was angered and had him caned. 

Upon knowing this, Minister Jiang Bin who had known the real identity of Pati Unus scolded Zhuo saying, "If you had romped with the emperor, would you be willing to kneel to a minor official like yourself?"

Later, Emperor Wu-zong died, either drowned or poisoned. Pati Unus was investigated and detained. Liang Zhuo accused him of receiving bribes. It was allured in the Malay Annals that he was sentenced to be castrated and died out of grief which must be an infusion of the life of Zheng He who was castrated and made a eunuch to the Chinese emperor. The Empress Dowager ordered the execution of the minister Jiang Bin. 

In 1522, Hidayatullah and Trenggana returned to Demak leaving Pati Unus in China. When they returned, Raden Kikin, the 45-year-old elder brother of Trenggana, contested the throne of Demak. A battle ensued at the river between the forces of Raden Trenggana and Raden Kikin. Raden Mukmin, the eldest son of Trenggana, who had stolen the Zulfiqar from Pati Unus killed his uncle Raden Kikin. Hidayatullah installed Trenggana as the second Sultan of Demak.

In 1523, Trenggana returned to China. He sent a letter coming from the "Sultan of Malacca" who was basing in Bintan. Upon the receipt of the letter, the Chinese mandarins entered Canton, dispatched Pati Unus to Trenggana and ordering them to return to Bintan  with their company, probably including Hidayatullah and Nakhoda Ismael (the eldest son of Trenggana who was known as Kaicili Latu in Ternate, Sunan Prawata, Enrique de Maluco among the Spaniards and Mukmin or Muk Ming among the Chinese merchants) since the junk had already been made and telling them that they would not give them provision if they did not wish to go. They replied that they could not go, that they might kill them as they pleased.

In 1524, Trenggana returned home with Pati Unus. Hence the other entities believed to be Pati Unus who were executed in China in a series from 1521 to 1529, before the ships coming from Malacca and Annam were banned, were not Pati Unus but Portuguese envoys coming from Malacca.

Pati Unus' post humus title Pangeran Sabrang Lor or the Prince Who Crossed The Sea To The North had suited to his supposed martyrdom in China through bad implication of Portuguese conquered Malacca. 

To the Muslims, he was a great and brave leader who was martyred in China by choosing to take the path of Jihad Fisabilillah, following and spying the Portuguese wherever they would go, instead of having to submit to the forces that continue to subdue the liberty and balance in the region. 

In the subsequent rounds there were still many battles fought between the Islamic Sultanate of Java against the Portuguese, especially the biggest was the battle in Sunda Kelapa in 1527 in which Pati Unus, Sharif Hidayatullah, and Hang Tuah were known for their battlecry,  "lā sayfa ʾillā ḏū l-faqāri wa-lā fatā ʾillā ʿalīy" meaning "There is no sword but the Zulfiqar, and there is no Hero but Ali". 

The mujahiddin's battlecry or invocation was later shortened to "Fatā ʾillā" which meaning turned into "son of Fatah" denoting to Pati Unus being the son-in-law of Raden Patah or the Al-Fatah (the Victorious) and later further corrupted to "Fatāhillāh" which meant "victory of God" or "God the Victorious".

Dū l-Faqār (Zulfiqar) meant literally as "the possessor of the spine of the constellation Orion" referring to the flaming double-edged sword possessed by the cherub who was guarding the gate of the paradise when Adam and Eve were expelled. Perhaps in the ancient believe, Paradise or the Garden of Eden was not on Earth but in the Constellation Orion.

A Chinese Muslim flag with the Zulfiqar, and Ali as a lion

The Zulfiqar was once owned by Manavikraman, the governor of Ernad who was the younger brother of Mani Farendan (Yunus Pasha), and was called as "Udaval" meaning "a curved sword carried with the body along the waist". Among the Javanese, the sword was called as "Keris Setan Kober". Duarte Barbosa, the brother-in-law of Ferdinand Magellan, had seen the said sword in 1510 while he was in Calicut, India and stated in his report that the Cheraman sword was worshipped daily by the Zamorin, and that the sword was laid at the feet of the Bhagavati when he died (val puja); the priest did the daily chores of worship to the sword for 14 days until a new Zamorin ("king of the ocean") was appointed; and the new Zamorin would carry out the val puja again on his first day.

The Portuguese in Sunda Kelapa, which was rename to Jayakarta or Jakarta, were quelled and the war between Majapahit and the Muslim sultanates of Java ended with the defeat of Prabu Udara and the fall of Daha in 1527.

Pati Unus might be the suspected Sultan Mahmud Shah of Malacca who died on a shipwreck in Kampar after escaping from the Portuguese. The event presumably took place in 1528 but an allusion in the Malay Annals suggested that the event took place during the death of the king of Thailand during the appearance of the comet in 1529. It was also the same year when Pati Unus or Khoja Husain (or Hasan), the son-in-law of Hang Tuah, was reported in China to be killed by the Portuguese. 

It was also mentioned in the Chinese chronicle of the Sam Po Kong temple, in the Simongan area, southwest of Semarang City, that in 1529, Raden Mukmin replaced Pati Unus as head of the shipyard in Semarang.

The said shipyard must be Juwana. The wife of Prabu Udara who was christened by Magellan, who acted like a priest, as Juana must be the Raja Juwana (or Mistress of the Juwana Shipyard) a Chinese port master.

According to the Sam Po Kong chronicle when Nakhoda Ismael alias Muk Ming was made head of the shipyard or amir ul-umara (commander-of-the sea), the Chinese community of Muslims and non-Muslims assisted him in working to complete 1,000 large ships that could each hold 400 soldiers. The construction of these warships was for the benefit of his father's navy, namely Trenggana, who intended to recapture the Moluccas from the Portuguese invaders. But before Trenggana could recapture the Moluccas, he was killed in a battle at Panarukan in 1548. Muk Ming ascended the Demak throne after his father's death but only served for a year since his forte was not in politics but in scholastic life.