Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur began life in 1857, founded by Chinese settlers as a tin-mining camp. By the 1860's, the landing place was a flourishing village. It was a violent time with fierce rivalries over mining claims and water rights which led to civil wars. Feuds, murders, gang wars all combined with the threat of devastating fires and pestilence made it a turbulent settlement.

It was then that a member of Selangor's royal family, Raja Abdullah, decided to open up an area in the Klang Valley for tin prospectors. At that time, tin was in huge demand, especially by America and the British Empire, which needed the durable, lightweight metal to help fuel their industrial revolutions. Miners from China soon arrived and despite pestilence that killed a large number of them, the Chinese miners thrived, attracting merchants and businesses. The commercial area of tin trading was located in the confluence of the Klang and Gombak rivers and it was here that Kuala Lumpur was established. Thus, the name of Kuala Lumpur which literally means ‘Muddy Estuary’ in Malay.

Few got rich, but throughout the Peninsula, the mania for tin inspired fierce rivalries and claim disputes. As they did in the gold fields of California, the Chinese miners organized themselves into clans and warring factions called "secret societies." Without a centralized Chinese authority keeping peace, order in the mining areas was nearly impossible. Whole clans could be swept up in fights that started over little more than a drunken dispute between two men. In 1868, needing a solution to the chaos, the headmen of the local clans elected a man named Yap ah Loy as "Kapitan China," or leader of the Chinese community. With the support of the local sultan, he built prisons and quelched revolts, quickly establishing an infamous reign over the entire Kuala Lumpur mining area. If KL has a "founding father," it is Loy.

Kuala Lumpur expanded under British rule (1873-1957) as a center of tin and rubber production and became the capital of the British-protected Federated Malay States in 1895. A rail line from KL to Klang, connecting the capital to the sea, was opened in 1886. With the city's establishment as State Capital of Selangor, more and more people from surrounding villages moved there. It rapidly developed into an administrative center and hub of business and trade. In 1946, it became the headquarters of the Federation of Malaya.

After independence in 1957, KL's progress increased, and by 1974, it was formally detached from the State of Selangor and made into a Federal Territory. Today, KL is the seat of government in Malaysia, with its own administration headed by a minister of cabinet rank. The last 20 years have seen Kuala Lumpur undergo phenomenal growth, with a population explosion of almost 50 percent, not to mention development on a monumental scale. One of the world's tallest buildings, the Petronas Towers, now rise above the city of 1.4 million. If those 87 Chinese miners could have poled their way 140 years up the river of time, they probably wouldn't recognize the legacy that began where the two muddy rivers met.