Complex sentence: The Shimazu family in the present Kagoshima Prefecture controlled Satsuma province for roughly four centuries prior to the beginning of the Edo period and the establishment of the han, and towards the end of the 16th century, controlled nearly all of Kyushu.
Split into simpler sentences: The Shimazu family in the present Kagoshima Prefecture controlled Satsuma province for roughly four centuries prior to the beginning of the Edo period and the establishment of the han. Towards the end of the 16th century, the Shimazu controlled nearly all of Kyushu.