Alaungpaya - Chief of Moksobo and Deputy Chief of Mu Valley

Chief of Moksobo and Deputy Chief of Mu Valley

Aung Zeya grew up during a period in which the authority of Toungoo Dynasty was in rapid decline. The "palace kings" at Ava had been unable to defend against the Manipuri raids that had been ransacking increasingly deeper parts of Upper Burma since 1724. Ava had failed to recover southern Lan Na (Chiang Mai) that revolted in 1727, and did nothing to prevent the annexation of northern Shan states by China in the 1730s. The Mu valley was directly on the path of the Manipuri raids year after year. Although Burma was far larger than Manipur, Ava had been unable to defeat the raids or organize a punitive expedition to Manipur itself. The people watched helplessly as the raiders torched villages, ransacked pagodas, and taking away captives.

It was during these troubled times in the absence of royal authority that men like Aung Zeya came forward. He assumed his father's responsibilities as chief of his village in his early twenties. A tall man for the times, (five feet eleven inches in height as described by an English envoy), the solidly built, sun-burned Aung Zeya displayed his natural ability to lead men, and viewed as a leader by his gentry peers throughout the valley. They began to take matters into their own hands to defend against the raids.

The sickly regime at Ava was wary of any potential rivals. In 1736, Toungoo Yaza, the commander-in-chief of the army, summoned Aung Zeya to Ava to check if the village headman was a potential threat to the regime. Satisfied that the 22-year-old had no designs on the throne, Toungoo Yaza on behalf of the king bestowed the title Bala Nanda Kyaw to Aung Zeya. Aung Zeya became deputy to his uncle the lord of Mu valley, and the administrative officer kyekaing (ကြေးကိုင် ), responsible for tax collection and for the preservation of order.