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resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo bestowed on Thursday the title of national hero on four historic figures whose contributions ranged from leading the war against colonial rule to establishing Muslim groups with millions of followers.

The four figures were Lafran Pane from Yogyakarta, Admiral Malahayati from Aceh, Sultan Mahmud Riayat Syah from Riau Islands and Muhammad Zainuddin Abdul Madjid from West Nusa Tenggara (NTB).

The national hero declaration ceremony was held at the Presidential Palace and was joined by descendants of the four figures, ministers and other senior officials.

The ceremony was part of the celebration of National Heroes Day, which falls on Nov. 10 and commemorates the battle between Indonesian and British forces in Surabaya, East Java, in November 1945.

Social Affairs Minister Khofifah Indar Parawansa, whose ministry manages national hero recognition, said the four figures had committed “heroic” acts and had performed “great services” for the country. “Their services were not only on the battlefield, but also in other fields that have benefited the country,” Khofifah said as quoted in a ministry statement published on Thursday.

Unlike in previous years, none of the figures named as national heroes in 2017 was Javanese.

The Title, Order of Merit and Honors Council previously said historians had criticized the nomination of Indonesia’s national heroes in previous years as being too Java-centric.

Last year, Jokowi bestowed national hero status only on As’ad Syamsul Arifin from East Java, a prominent figure in the history of the country’s largest Muslim group Nahdlatul Ulama. Two Javanese figures were also among five figures who were awarded the status in 2015.

Jimly Asshiddiqie, a constitutional law expert and deputy chairman of the council, said Jokowi had instructed the council to be more “balanced” in naming national hero candidates.

Although Lafran Pane is associated with Yogyakarta, he originated from Sipirok in North Sumatra.

Lafran helped establish in 1947 the Islamic Students Association (HMI), a powerful organization that counts Vice President Jusuf Kalla, senior Golkar Party politician Akbar Tanjung, now-jailed former Democratic Party chairman Anas Urbaningrum, former Constitutional Court chief justice Mahfud MD and Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan among its alumni.

Mahfud, who chairs the presidium of HMI’s alumni organization (KAHMI), said HMI had proposed Lafran as a national hero to Jokowi two years ago, citing his contribution to “many universities.”

Mahfud and a number of KAHMI members met with Jokowi at the palace on Nov. 3, during which Mahfud said the President had agreed to bestow the title of national hero on Lafran.

According to a Social Affairs Ministry statement, Lafran was also one of the important figures who opposed communism in Indonesia.

Admiral Malahayati, the only woman among the figures named as national heroes this year, was credited for her contribution to the Aceh sultanate’s fight against Dutch and Portuguese colonial expansion in the 16th and early 17th century. A Navy frigate is also named after Malahayati, who was famous for establishing the Inong Balee legion that consisted of widows of Acehnese soldiers.

Sultan Mahmud Riayat Syah defeated Dutch colonial forces in Riau in the latter part of the 18th century.

Meanwhile, locals in Mataram celebrated the naming of Zainuddin Majid as a national hero, hoisting a 98 square meter flag at the province’s Islamic Center in the city.

Zainuddin Majid was born on April 19, 1908 in NTB and died on Oct. 21, 1997. According to a Social Affairs Ministry statement published on Thursday, he was a “nationalist independence fighter, cleric and emancipatory educational figure” who established Nahdatul Wathan, the biggest Muslim group in the province.

The family of Zainuddin Majid is widely respected in the Muslim-majority province. The current NTB Governor Muhammad Zainul Majdi, a Democratic Party politician, is Zainuddin’s grandson.

— Panca Nugraha contributed reporting from Mataram.