[3] The future general was born Maung Ton (မောင်တွန် [màʊɰ̃ tʊ̀ɰ̃]) in a small Upper Burma village of Moksobo (present-day Shwebo).
[4] In 1752, Ton responded to his friend and village chief Aung Zeya's call to resist the occupation armies of the southern kingdom of Hanthawaddy, which had toppled the Toungoo Dynasty at Ava (Inwa).
He led one of the Burmese armies in the 1758 Manipuri campaign that made Manipur a tributary state of Burma.
[6] Alaungpaya personally selected his childhood friend to command the rearguard, which were "the pick of the army--500 Manipuri Horse and 6,000 foot, everyman of whom had a musket".
[4] Minkhaung Nawrahta spread them out and it was two days before the Siamese realized that the main Burmese army had left.
His men watched the ring closing round them, and fearing to be cut off, begged him to let them fight further back.
Although he had not been involved in Hsinbyushin's conspiracy, Minkhaung Nawrahta felt sure that he would be stripped of his command, and probably executed on some excuse.
He looked back on those eventful years, the victories that had come his way, and the titles and the honors that had been showered upon him by his grateful master.
When Minkhaung Nawrahta's dead body was brought before him, the king was remorseful, saying "Should ye have slain so great a man?