Sunan Ampel came to Java in 1443 CE, possibly to visit his aunt Dwarawati, a princess of Champa who was married to Kertawijaya, the king of Majapahit.
[3] A long lineage[4] indicates that Sunan Ampel was a descendant of Muhammad, a Prophet in the Islamic religion who was born in Mecca.
However, another theory claims that Sunan Ampel had Chinese ancestry and identifies him as Bong Swi Hoo.
[5] The two theories are not mutually exclusive, because Muslims from China interacted extensively with Southeast Asia during the time of Zheng He.
Sunan Ampel married Nyi Gede Manila, the daughter of a Chinese captain at Tuban named Gan Eng Cu.