It all began at the confluence of the Gombak and Klang rivers. The settlement was first conceived when Raja Abdullah opened up the area to tin prospectors in 1857. The Chinese began prospecting in Ampang area. Soon merchants and traders set up shops at the confluence to provide provisions to miners in return for some of the tin, building the foundations of a city. The name Kuala Lumpur literally means 'muddy confluence' !

As the town grew, the British appointed a Chinese Kapitan, to administer the settlement and maintain law  and order. The most famous of the kapitans was Yap Ah Loy, who oversaw the rise of Kuala Lumpur. He along with Tengku Kudin guided KL's growth into the centre of commerce in Selangor. It was made the capital of Selangor in 1880.

When the Federated Malay States were incorporated in 1896, Kuala Lumpur was made the capital. After the declaration of Independence in 1957, KL became the capital of the Federation of Malaya and later the Federation of Malaysia. On the 1st February 1972, Kuala Lumpur, seceded from Selangor and became a Federal Territory.