Kuala Lumpur is thought to have been founded by Raja Abdullah, who introduced [[Chinese people|Chinese]] into the region to open tin mines in 1957,<ref>{{Cite book |last=The Royal Asiatic Society |url=https://archive.org/details/dli.ernet.240629/page/19/mode/2up |title=Journal Of The Malayan Branch Of The Royal Asiatic Society Vol-XI |publisher=The Malayan Branch Of The Royal Asiatic Society |year=1933 |location=Singapore |pages=19 |language=en}}</ref> although it is unclear who the first settlers were since there were likely settlements at the Sungai Gombak-SungaiKlang Klangriver confluence in the 1820s.<ref name="Fatt2011" /> Chinese miners were known to be involved in tin mining up the [[Selangor River]] in the 1840s about {{convert|10|mi|km|order=flip|abbr=off}} north of present-day Kuala Lumpur,{{sfn|Gullick|1955|pages=10–11}} and [[Mandailing]] Sumatrans led by {{ILL|Raja Asal|ms}} 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.<ref name="sutanpuasa"/><ref name="gulllick 3">{{cite journal|url=http://myrepositori.pnm.gov.my/bitstream/123456789/4317/1/JB1869_GOKL.pdf|title=The Growth of Kuala Lumpur and the Malay Communities in Selangor Before 1880|author=J.M. Gullick|journal=Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society|volume=LXIII|date=June 1990|issue=1|pages=15–17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160815212619/http://myrepositori.pnm.gov.my/bitstream/123456789/4317/1/JB1869_GOKL.pdf|archive-date=15 August 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>Abdul Samad Ahmad, ''Pesaka Selangor'', Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, Kuala Lumpur, (1937 edisi Jawi), 1966.</ref><ref name="Fatt2011">{{cite book|author=Lam Seng Fatt|title=Insider's Kuala Lumpur (3rd Edn): Is No Ordinary Travel Guide. Open Your Eyes to the Soul of the City (Not Just the Twin Towers...)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rRCJAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA17|date=15 March 2011|publisher=Marshall Cavendish International Asia Pte Ltd|isbn=978-981-4435-39-0|pages=17–18|access-date=5 April 2018|archive-date=4 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804130120/https://books.google.com/books?id=rRCJAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA18|url-status=live}}</ref> 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 {{Circa|1857}},<ref name=ooi/> when the Malay Chief of [[Klang, Malaysia|Klang]], Raja Abdullah bin Raja Jaafar, aided by his brother Raja Juma'at of [[Lukut]], raised funds from [[Malacca]]n Chinese businessmen to hire Chinese miners from [[Lukut]] to open new [[tin]] mines there.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Story of Kuala Lumpur, 1857–1939|author= J.M. Gullick|publisher=Eastern Universities Press (M)|pages=8–9|year=1983|isbn=978-967-908-028-5}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://all.talkmalaysia.com/kuala-lumpur/kuala-lumpur-history/|title=Kuala Lumpur History|publisher=All Malaysia|access-date=15 September 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091018073627/http://all.talkmalaysia.com/kuala-lumpur/kuala-lumpur-history/|archive-date=18 October 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> The miners landed at Kuala Lumpur and continued on foot to [[Ampang, Kuala Lumpur|Ampang]], where they opened the first mine.<ref>Middlebrook & Gullick, ''op. cit.'', 1983: 18.</ref> 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.{{sfn|Gullick|1955|page=10}}<ref name=ooi/>
