At that time Ampel region has about 30,000 inhabitants. Ampel was located next to the main port of the kingdom, Jenggala Manik, which made it a strategic place to spread Islam with aid from the Moslem merchants in Java. These merchants had already made smalll communities along the northern coast of Java since the 11th century. Sunan Ampel must had great influence over them and received donations to finance the Islamic da'wah (propagation of the faith). Slowly but sure, the mission gained more and more new converts from the nobles, local people and foreign merchants. The donations also financed Sunan Ampel's pesantren, where Moslem children studied Islam to become future missionaries for the archipelago. In a short time, Ampel grew to be a centre for studying Islam in the island and hosted religious scholars from various countries. Sufism was the base of Sunan Ampel's teachings, which prevented confrontation among scholars from various mazhab (sects) in Islam, and attracted new converts by its non-agressiveness.
