According to tradition, the first person that Raden Patah encountered in Glagah Wangi was a woman named Nyai Lembah, from Rawa Pening.

According to Hamka, it derived from the Arabic term dimak, which means "tears", to imply the hardship endured during the struggle to establish Islam in Java.

[2]: 14 During the reign of Wikramawardhana of Majapahit, during the period from 1405 to 1433, a series of Ming armadas naval expeditions led by Zheng He,[4]: 241–242  a Muslim Chinese admiral, arrived in Java.

[6] According to tradition, Sunan Ampel ordered Raden Patah to establish an Islamic learning center in the Glagah Wangi village in coastal Central Java.

Through Sunan Ampel's recommendation, Raden Hasan was appointed as the regent of Glagah Wangi by King Kertabhumi of Majapahit, with the title Adipati Bintara.

[2]: 16 Dates for the end of the Majapahit Empire range from 1478, traditionally described in the sinengkalan or chandrasengkala (chronogram) Sirna ilang kertaning bhumi and corresponding to 1400 Saka,[8]: 37 and 100 ) to 1517.

In 1478 the Sudarma Wisuta war took place, when Ranawijaya's army under general Udara (who later became vice-regent) breached Trowulan defences and killed Kertabumi in his palace.

This event is mentioned in Trailokyapuri (Jiwu) and the Petak inscription, where Ranawijaya claimed that he already defeated Kertabhumi and reunited Majapahit as one kingdom.

In response to the collapse of Kertabhumi of Trowulan and the rise of Girindrawardhana of Daha in 1478, Demak decided it was no longer obliged to send tribute to the Majapahit central court and declared its independence.

Three years later the Islamic kingdom of Demak was established under the chronogram Geni mati siniram janmi, which corresponds to 1403 Saka or 1481 CE.

[2]: 17 Demak managed to gain hegemony over other trading ports on the northern coast of Java such as Semarang, Jepara, Tuban, and Gresik.

[14] Apart from Javanese city-states, Raden Patah also gained overlordship of the ports of Jambi and Palembang in eastern Sumatra, which produced commodities such as lign-aloes and gold.

Demak managed to consolidate its power by defeating Daha in 1518, because it was more accepted as the legitimate successor of Majapahit, since Raden Patah claimed direct descent from King Kertabhumi, who had died during the Girindrawardana invasion of Trowulan in 1478.

[2]: 19 In two expeditions, with approximately 100 ships in 1513 and with 375 in 1521, Pati Unus led fleets from the Javanese coastal cities to seize the port of Malacca on the Malay Peninsula from the control of the Portuguese.

The Portuguese repelled both attacks, and the destruction of so many ships proved devastating to the Javanese ports, whose trading activity subsequently greatly declined.

[14] Pati Unus was killed in the 1521 expedition, and was later remembered as Pangeran Sabrang Lor or "the Prince who crossed to the North" (the Java Sea to the Malay peninsula).

Tradition has it that Trenggana was much impressed by Fatahillah's imposing figure and charisma and his knowledge of Islam, and gave him his daughter, the widow of Pati Unus, as his wife.

During his reign Demak was able to subdue other major ports and its reach extended into some inland areas of East Java that are not thought to have been Islamized at the time.

On the other hand, Sunan Kalijaga proposed Hadiwijaya, popularly known as Joko Tingkir, who was the adipati of Pajang and also a son in-law of Trenggana.

She urged her brother in-law, Hadiwijaya (popularly known as Jaka Tingkir), Adipati of Pajang (now Boyolali), to avenge her husband's death by killing Arya Penangsang.

[17] Demak's prominence grew with that of Malacca, and was also enhanced by Raden Patah's claim of direct descent from Majapahit royalty and his marriage ties with neighboring city-states.

This modified symbol can be seen as decoration inside the Grand Mosque of Demak.As the first Islamic polity in Java, Demak has a venerated status among Indonesian Muslims.

It is traditionally linked with the legendary Wali Songo, the nine Muslim ulama who proselytized Islam among the then strongly Hindu-Buddhist population of Java.

[19] The surrounding maqam (tombs) of Wali saints and Demak sultans here continue to draw ziyarat pilgrimage among Muslims in the region.