HISTORY ON KUALA LUMPUR

Kuala Lumpur is the capital as well as the largest city of Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur is one of the three Malaysian Federal Territories. It is an enclave within the state of Selangor, on the central west coast of Peninsular Malaysia.

From Year 1857 to Year 1957

Kuala Lumpur was founded in 1857 at the confluence of the Gombak and Klang rivers. The settlement started when a member of the Selangor royal family, Raja Abdullah, opened up the Klang Valley for tin prospectors.

87 Chinese prospectors went up the river Klang and began prospecting in the Ampang area, which was then jungle. Despite 69 of them dying due to the pestilential conditions, a thriving tin mine was established. This naturally attracted merchants who traded basic provisions to the miners in return for some of the tin.

The traders set up shop at the confluence of the Klang and Gombak rivers. Thus, a city was born.

As the town grew, the British, who ruled Malaya at the time, felt they needed to appoint a headman to administer the settlement and ensure law and order. The first was Hiu Siew.

It was the third headman, Yap Ah Loy, who oversaw the rise of Kuala Lumpur from a sleepy little mining town to become the foremost city of Selangor.

In the early years, Kuala Lumpur was the centre of the Selangor Civil War, a fight between Selangor princes over the revenue of tin mines. Headman Yap and his backer, Tengku Kudin, were successful and it was from then, thanks to Yap's able leadership, that Kuala Lumpur became Selangor's biggest city.

He rebuilt Kuala Lumpur, which was devastated by the Civil War and repopulated it with Chinese miners from elsewhere in Selangor. He also encouraged Malay farmers to settle near Kuala Lumpur in order to have a steady and accessible source of food.

It was made capital of Selangor in 1880 due to Kapitan Yap's success. He gave Kuala Lumpur a system of frontier justice which effectively maintained law and order, and ensured that Kuala Lumpur became the centre of commerce in Selangor.

After Kuala Lumpur burnt down in 1881, Kapitan Yap decided to rebuild Kuala Lumpur in brick and tile to replace the attap houses. He set up Kuala Lumpur's first school and a shelter for the homeless.

Sir Frank Swettenham was at this time appointed Resident of Selangor and he was the person responsible for making Kuala Lumpur the seat of administration of Selangor. It was under his rule that after Yap's death the city continued to prosper. When the Federated Malay States were incorporated with Swettenham in charge in 1896, Kuala Lumpur was made the capital.

During World War II Japanese forces captured Kuala Lumpur on January 11, 1942 and occupied the city for 44 months.

Post-Independence From Year 1957 to 1990

After independence in 1957, Kuala Lumpur was the capital of the Federation of Malaya and continued to be the capital of the renamed Federation of Malaysia in 1963. For the occasion of independence, a large stadium, Stadium Merdeka was built, where Malaysia's first prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, declared Malaya's independence in front of a massive crowd. The Union Jack was lowered from the flagpole at Dataran Merdeka and the Malayan flag was raised.

On 1 February 1972 Kuala Lumpur seceded from Selangor and the city became a Federal Territory.