History of Kuala Lumpur City

In the late 1800 Kuala Lumpur was just a landing places where boats coming up the Klang River could bring supplies for and take away tin from the newly opened Ampang mines. Since 1857 Chinese had been coming into Kuala Lumpur and by that time many Malays, mostly from Sumatra had settles in a kampong at the place now known as Jalan Silang. Another kampong, kampong Rawa, was located between Jalan Tun Perak and Jalan Gereja. Their cemetery was located on the present's site of Masjid Jamek, this junction of the Klang and Gombak Rivers - this location originally known as Lumpur (mud) later becoming Kuala Lumpur (muddy estuary).

The small township that had developed from the success of tin mining was badly damages during the Selangor Civil War and was at one time nearly abandoned altogether. The dispute in 1866 between the Sumatran Malays and the Bugis resulted in this civil war between Raja Mahadi and Raja Abdullah, their respective leader. (Raja Mahadi was the rightful ruler of Klang but was dislodged by the sultan in favor of Raja Abdullah, a son of a Raja from Riau. The Chinese, under their Capitan Liu Ngim Kong, sided with the Sultan and Raja Abdullah in this dispute.

Liu died in 1868 and Yap Ah Loy was appointed as the third Capitan. He first fought the Chinese from Lukut who were attempting to topple him from his captainship. Then in 1890 chinese from Negri Sambilan, supporting Raja Mahadi attacked Kuala Lumpur. The war went on for may month and only in June 1871 did the tide change in favor of Yap Ah Loy and his men. In 1872 Yap Ah Loy came under siege by Raja Mahadi. Tengku Kudin who controlled Ulu Yam Rawang, Kuala Kubu and Serendah came to the aid of Yap Ah Loy. With the hep of the Bendara Wan Ahmad of Pahang and some Englishmen, Tengku Kudin succeeded in defeating Raja Mahadi in March of 1873. From this time on the British began to establish their influence in Selangor.

It was Yap Ah Loy who rebuit the town of Kuala Lumpur from the ruins of the Selangor Civil War. From 1874 until his death in 1885 he controlled the economic life of the township. At this time Klang was still the capital of Selangor and until British Resident moved to Kuala Lumpur in 1880, Yap Ah loy was in total control of the town.