Tuban

Tuban is an old harbour on the north coast of eastern Java. Ships from abroad called here in the age of Majapahit, and Chinese records mention the port as early as the eleventh century. Its hinterland includes teak forests and limestone country, while the sea connects it with the trading towns farther east. The tomb of Sunan Bonang, one of Java's revered Islamic teachers, stands near the town square.

In the early fifteenth century Ma Huan visited Tuban with Zheng He's expedition and described a substantial Chinese community there. Islam took root in the port before the rise of Demak, yet Tuban remained loyal for a time to the Hindu-Buddhist rulers of Majapahit inland. Demak conquered it around 1527. The memory of Sunan Bonang and his teaching made the town an enduring place of pilgrimage, alongside its role in the commerce of Java's northern shore.