[4][5] Bodawpaya appointed him to head a mission to India, to retrieve books and scriptures in Sanskrit, Hindi, Urdu, and Persian.

[6][7] Nu was appointed the Mayor of Yammar Wati (now Ramree Island) with the title Shwe Taung Thargathu,[8][9][10][11] which means "Hero of the Ocean".

[1] His father, Sheik Darwood, and mother, Daw Nyein were from the Taung Baloo quarters in Ava.

[1] He studied Burmese Classic literature, history and astrology at the Ava Nan Oo Phonegyi Kyaung, and was a friend of the prince Bodawpaya since they were seven years old.

[2][3] At 19 years old, he followed his father to Rangoon, in lower Burma, where he studied Islamic literature, Arabic, Urdu and Persian from Syed Mohamad of Syria.[importance?

After the trip, Nu was appointed the Mayor of Yammar Wati (now Ramree Island) with the title Shwe Taung Thargathu, which means "Hero of the Ocean".

[28] After traveling to places all over India,[note 1] the expedition returned to Sagaing on 18 May 1810, with books, scriptures, various memorabilia and presents.

They also built a rapport with some of the city-state kings in India, some of them sent some presents and requested the Burmese Army’s help to repel the British.

With the help of Nu's Bengal information, Bodawpaya was able to capture the western kingdom of Rakhine, which had been largely independent since the fall of Bagan, in 1784.