It was initially fought between Raja Abdullah bin Raja Jaafar, the administrator of the Klang Valley, and Raja Mahadi bin Raja Sulaiman. It was joined by Tengku Kudin (Tengku Dhiauddin, also spelt Ziauddin), a Kedahan prince, as well as other Malay and Chinese rival factions. The war was eventually won by Tengku Kudin and Abdullah's son, Raja Ismail.