The desire to spread the faith of Islam was possibly one of the main reason behind Demak's decision to capture Banten in 1527, and supplant the ancient Hindu Sunda Kingdom with a new Islamic kingdom. Although, a more pragmatic reason was more possible; a geopolitical move to prevent Muslim's rival; the Catholic Christian Portuguese in Malacca to ever established their base in Java. The role of Muslim proselytizers that targeted the ruling class was also an instrumental action that contributed to the spread of Islam in Indonesian archipelago around the 15th century. At that time, Islam also benefited as being the predominant faith of the Asian merchant class, that established their trading network from the coasts of Arabia, India, all the way to Indonesia.