[1]: 171 The king Anawrahta supposedly once visited Yindaw and had an irrigation canal dug through the area, which became the lake that exists today.

[1]: 170, 172 The name "Yindaw" appears in the Sa Kyo Paya Hla inscription of 1192, which may be the earliest contemporary epigraphic reference to the town.

[3] In general, in the Konbaung period, Yindaw Township's highest-ranking official was the provincial governor (whose title was variously myoza, myowun, or myo-oat), who was responsible for presiding over civil and criminal cases, checking and standardising weights and measures, levying taxes, and also carrying out whatever orders came from the central authorities.

Several governors are attested during the Konbaung period: the myoza Thiri Su Sandra Dewi in 1783, the myowun Maha Min Khaung Tha Manta Raza in 1866, the myo-oat Min Htin Thiha Kyaw Khaung in 1878, and the myoza Mingyi Thiri Maha Zeya Gamani in 1885.

They had supposedly originated as political refugees who had been followers of a Mughal crown prince who had fled to Arakan after his brother imprisoned their father "Arlangiri" and seized the throne.

They were then allowed to settle in several places in Myanmar in groups of 7 families, in each case on a new designated site just outside a pre-existing town.

Besides Yindaw, similar groups settled at several other towns: Taung-Ngu, Yamethin, Nyaungyan, Meiktila, Myedu, Ngayane, Kawthanthi, and Sibatbya.