sultanate · Maritime Southeast Asia

Selangor Sultanate

1766 CE – present · capital Kuala Selangor (later Klang)

Bugis-founded Malay sultanate whose tin fields gave rise to Kuala Lumpur, now Malaysia's most populous and prosperous state.

Origins

Bugis warriors who dominated the Johor Sultanate in the 18th century settled on the Selangor coast. Raja Lumu, son of the Bugis chief Daeng Chelak, was recognised as Sultan Salehuddin Shah around 1766, with the sanction of the ruler of Perak, and ruled from Kuala Selangor.

Rule and society

Selangor was divided among river chiefs who taxed tin exported from the interior. Chinese miners poured in during the 19th century, and the rivalry of chiefs and secret societies erupted in the Klang War of 1867 to 1874, in which Yap Ah Loy built up Kuala Lumpur. Sultan Abdul Samad accepted a British resident in 1874.

To the present

Selangor joined the Federated Malay States in 1895, with Kuala Lumpur as federal capital. It became a state of the Federation of Malaya and then Malaysia, ceding Kuala Lumpur in 1974 and Putrajaya in 2001 as federal territories. The sultanate continues under Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah.

Connections (4)

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Selangor Sultanate. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/selangor-sultanate
MLA
“Selangor Sultanate.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/selangor-sultanate. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Selangor Sultanate.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/selangor-sultanate.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Selangor Sultanate’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/selangor-sultanate (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻