North Maluku was originally the centre of the four largest Islamic sultanates in the eastern Indonesian archipelago—Bacan, Jailolo, Tidore and Ternate—known as the "Moloku Kië Raha" (the Four Mountains of Maluku). Upon Europeans' arrival at the beginning of the 16th century, North Maluku became the site of competition between the Portuguese, Spanish and the Dutch to control trade. In the end, the Dutch emerged victorious, beginning three centuries of Dutch rule in the region. The Japanese invaded the region during World War II, and Ternate became the center of the Japanese rule of the Pacific region. Following Indonesian independence, the region became a part of the province of Maluku.