The Banten Sultanate is founded in the sixteenth century and is centered in Banten, a port city on the northwest coast of Java; the contemporary English spelling of both is Bantam.

It is said to have been founded by Sunan Gunungjati, who had previously founded Cirebon.Once a great trading center in Southeast Asia, especially of pepper, its importance is overshadowed by Batavia, and it is finally annexed to Dutch East Indies in 1813.

Its core territory now forms the Indonesian province of Banten.

Today, in Old Banten, the Grand Mosque of Banten is an important destination for tourists and for pilgrims from across Indonesia and from overseas.