Early years The official account considers Kuala Lumpur to have been founded by the Malay Chief of
Klang,
Raja Abdullah, who sent
Chinese miners into the region to open tin mines in 1857, although it is unclear who the first settlers were since there were likely settlements at the Gombak-Klang river confluence before that in the 1820s. Chinese miners were known to be involved in tin mining up the
Selangor River in the 1840s about north of present-day Kuala Lumpur, and
Mandailing Sumatrans led by and Sutan Puasa were also involved in tin mining and trade in the
Ulu Klang region before 1860, and Sumatrans may have settled in the upper reaches of Klang River in the first quarter of the 19th century, or possibly earlier. Kuala Lumpur was originally a small hamlet of just a few houses and shops at the confluence of the
Sungai Gombak and Sungai Klang (
Klang River). Kuala Lumpur became established as a town , The miners landed at Kuala Lumpur and continued on foot to
Ampang, where they opened the first mine. Kuala Lumpur was the furthest point up the Klang River to which supplies could conveniently be brought by boat and therefore became a collection and dispersal point serving the tin mines. The town, spurred on by tin-mining, started to develop around Old Market Square (
Medan Pasar), with roads radiating out towards Ampang as well as
Pudu and
Batu (the destinations became the names of these roads:
Ampang Road,
Pudu Road, and
Batu Road), where miners had also begun to settle in, and
Petaling and
Damansara. The miners formed gangs and the gangs frequently fought in this period, particularly factions of Kuala Lumpur and Kanching, mainly over control of the best tin mines. Leaders of the Chinese community were conferred the title of
Kapitan Cina (Chinese headman) by the Malay chief, and Hiu Siew, the early Chinese trader, became the first Kapitan of Kuala Lumpur. The third Chinese Kapitan of Kuala Lumpur,
Yap Ah Loy, was appointed in 1868. and
Haji Mohamed Taib, who was involved in the early development of
Kampung Baru. The Minangkabaus were also significant socio-religious figures, for example Utsman bin Abdullah was the first
kadi of Kuala Lumpur, as well as Muhammad Nur bin Ismail.
Beginning of modern Kuala Lumpur . The buildings were mostly constructed of wood and
atap before regulations enacted by Swettenham in 1884 required buildings to use bricks and tiles. The appearance of Kuala Lumpur transformed rapidly in the following years due to the building regulations. Early Kuala Lumpur was a small town that suffered from many social and political problems – the buildings were mostly made of wood and '
atap' (palm frond
thatching). The buildings were prone to catching fire, and due to a lack of proper sanitation, the town was plagued with diseases. It also suffered from a constant threat of flooding due to its location. The town became embroiled in the
Selangor Civil War in part over control of revenue from the tin mines. Yap Ah Loy allied himself with and the
Hai San secret society, they fought against a rival secret society,
Ghee Hin, who allied themselves with Raja Mahdi. Raja Asal and Sutan Puasa switched sides to Raja Mahdi, and Kuala Lumpur was captured in 1872 and burnt to the ground. Yap escaped to Klang where he assembled another fighting force and recaptured Kuala Lumpur in March 1873, defeating Raja Mahdi's forces with the help of fighters from
Pahang. The war and other setbacks, such as dropping tin prices, led to a slump. A major outbreak of
cholera caused many to flee. The slump lasted until late 1879, when rising prices for tin allowed the town to recover. (Now the
Sultan Abdul Samad Building) facing the
Padang, The early Chinese and Malay settled along the east bank of the Klang River. The Chinese mainly settled around the commercial centre of Market Square. The Malays, and later Indian
Chettiars and Muslims, resided in the Java Street area, now
Jalan Tun Perak. In 1880, the colonial administration moved the state capital of Selangor from Klang to the more strategically advantageous Kuala Lumpur, and British Resident
William Bloomfield Douglas decided to locate the government buildings and living quarters to the west of the river. Government offices and a new
police headquarters were built on
Bukit Aman, and the Padang was initially created for police training. The Padang, now known as
Independence Square, would later become the centre of the British administrative offices when the colonial government offices moved to the
Sultan Abdul Samad Building in 1897.
Frank Swettenham, on becoming the British Resident, began improving the town by cleaning up the streets. He also stipulated in 1884 that buildings should be constructed of brick and tile so that they would be less flammable, and that the town be rebuilt with wider streets to reduce fire risk. Demolished
atap buildings were replaced with brick and tile buildings, and many of the new brick buildings had "
five-foot ways" and Chinese carpentry work. This resulted in a distinct eclectic
shop house architecture typical to this region. Kapitan Yap Ah Loy expanded road access, linking tin mines with the city with the main arterial routes of the present
Ampang Road,
Pudu Road and
Petaling Street. As Chinese Kapitan, he held wide powers on a par with
Malay community leaders. Law reforms were implemented and new legal measures were introduced to the assembly. Yap also presided over a
small claims court. With a police force of six, he was able to uphold the rule of law, constructing a prison that could accommodate sixty prisoners at a time. Yap Ah Loy also built Kuala Lumpur's first school and a major tapioca mill in
Petaling Street, in which the Selangor's
Sultan Abdul Samad held an interest. (now the
National Textile Museum) near the F.M.S. Government Offices in the distance, . A
railway line between Kuala Lumpur and Klang, initiated by Swettenham and completed in 1886, increased access and resulted in rapid growth. The population grew from 4,500 in 1884 to 20,000 in 1890. In 1896, Kuala Lumpur was chosen as the capital of the newly formed
Federated Malay States.
20th century–present s with a road sweeper at work in the street of Kuala Lumpur, . Kuala Lumpur expanded considerably in the 20th century. It was in 1895, but was extended to encompass in 1903, and to by 1924. By the time it became a municipality in 1948 it had expanded to , and then to in 1974 as a Federal Territory. Until 1974, Kuala Lumpur was one of the seven districts of Selangor (six before 1960). The Kuala Lumpur district comprises eight (later nine) mukims –
Sungai Buloh,
Batu,
Petaling,
Ampang,
Ulu Klang, Kuala Lumpur (city and suburbs),
Setapak and (since 1953)
Petaling Jaya. The development of a
rubber industry in
Selangor fuelled by the demand for car tyres in the early 20th century led to a boom, and the population of Kuala Lumpur increased from 30,000 in 1900 to 80,000 in 1920. The commercial activities of Kuala Lumpur had been run to a large extent by Chinese businessmen such as
Loke Yew, who was then the richest and most influential Chinese in Kuala Lumpur. The growth of the rubber industry led to an influx of foreign capital and planters, with new companies and industries becoming established in Kuala Lumpur, and other companies previously based elsewhere also found a presence here. ) in Kuala Lumpur in December 1941 during World War II. During
World War II, Kuala Lumpur was
captured by the
Imperial Japanese Army on 11 January 1942. Despite suffering little damage during the battle, the wartime occupation of the city resulted in significant loss of lives; at least 5,000 Chinese were killed in Kuala Lumpur in just a few weeks of occupation by Japanese forces, and thousands of Indians were sent as
forced labour to work on the
Burma Railway where many died. They occupied the city until 15 August 1945, when the commander in chief of the
Japanese Seventh Area Army in Singapore and Malaysia,
Seishirō Itagaki,
surrendered to the British administration following the
atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Kuala Lumpur grew during the war, and continued after the war during the
Malayan Emergency (1948–1960), during which Malaya was preoccupied with a
communist insurgency and
New Villages were established on the outskirts of the city. On 31 August 1957, the Federation of Malaya gained its independence from British rule. The British flag was lowered and the Malayan flag raised for the first time at the Padang at midnight on 30 August 1957, and on the morning of 31 August, the ceremony for the
Declaration of Independence was held at the
Merdeka Stadium by the first Prime Minister of Malaya,
Tunku Abdul Rahman. Kuala Lumpur officially became the capital of the
Malayan federation under the Federal Capital Act 1960 remained still after the
formation of Malaysia on 16 September 1963. The
Malaysian Houses of Parliament were completed at the edge of the
Lake Gardens in 1963. The population of Kuala Lumpur expanded considerably from 1960 to 2018, doubling in size every 13 years. Kuala Lumpur has seen several civil disturbances over the years. A riot in 1897 was a relatively minor affair that began with the confiscation of faulty
dacing (a scale used by traders), and in 1912, a more serious disturbance called the
tauchang riot began during the
Chinese New Year with the cutting of pigtails and ended with rioting and factional fighting lasting several days. The worst rioting on record in Malaysia, however, occurred on 13 May 1969, when race riots broke out in Kuala Lumpur. and led to major changes in the country's economic policy to promote and prioritise Malay economic development over that of other ethnicities.
City, Federal Territory, Greater Kuala Lumpur was created. The
race track in the foreground was replaced by the
Petronas Towers and
KLCC Park in 1998. Kuala Lumpur achieved
city status on 1 February 1972, becoming the first settlement in Malaysia to be granted the status after independence. Later, on 1 February 1974, Kuala Lumpur became a
federal territory. The territory of Kuala Lumpur expanded to 96 square miles by absorbing the surrounding areas. Kuala Lumpur was ceded by
Selangor to be directly controlled by the
central government, and it ceased to be capital of Selangor in 1978 after the city of
Shah Alam was declared the new state capital. On 14 May 1990, Kuala Lumpur celebrated the centennial of the local council. The new federal territory
Kuala Lumpur flag and anthem were introduced.
Putrajaya was declared a Federal Territory on 1 February 2001, as well as the seat of the federal government. The administrative and judicial functions of the government were shifted from Kuala Lumpur to
Putrajaya. Kuala Lumpur however still retained its
legislative function, and remained the home of the
Yang di-Pertuan Agong (Constitutional King). (KLCC) in 2020 From the 1990s onwards, major urban developments in the
Klang Valley extended the Kuala Lumpur metropolitan area. This area, known as
Greater Kuala Lumpur, extends from the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur westward to
Port Klang, east to the edge of the
Titiwangsa Mountains as well as to the north and south. The area covers other administratively separate towns and cities such as Klang,
Shah Alam,
Putrajaya and others, and is served by the
Klang Valley Integrated Transit System. Notable projects undertaken within Kuala Lumpur itself included the development of a new
Kuala Lumpur City Centre around
Jalan Ampang and the Petronas Towers, once the world's tallest buildings. The Petronas Towers has since been superseded as the tallest buildings in Kuala Lumpur by
The Exchange 106 and
Merdeka 118, which is the second tallest building in the world after the
Burj Khalifa in
Dubai. ==Geography==