from a large family, and was related by blood and by marriage to many other gentry families throughout the valley. Aung Zeya claimed descent from a 15th-century cavalry commander and ultimately the Pagan royal line. Ywa grew up during the period in which the authority of King Mahadhammaraza Dipadi of the Toungoo dynasty had largely dissipated across the kingdom. The Manipuris had been raiding increasingly deeper parts of Upper Burma between the Chindwin and Irrawaddy rivers since the mid-1720s. Ywa's home region was directly on the path of the raids, and took the brunt of the raids. With the Burmese court unable to deal with the small kingdom of Manipur, the Burmese watched helplessly as the raiders torched villages, ransacked pagodas, and taking away captives. In 1740, the Mon of Lower Burma broke away, and founded the Restored Hanthawaddy Kingdom. The central authority of the king had effectively disappeared, and a profound sense of helplessness pervaded and deepened. The Hanthawaddy armies finally toppled the Toungoo dynasty on 23 March 1752 when they captured Ava. Military commander (1752–1760) On 29 February 1752, three weeks before the fall of Ava, Aung Zeya founded the Konbaung dynasty to resist the upcoming Hanthawaddy rule, styling himself King Alaungpaya. The Konbaung resistance was just one of many resistance forces that had sprung up across Upper Burma (mostly by panicked ethnic Burmans but also by ethnic Shans). Many young men from 46 villages in the Mu valley, who longed to redress the humiliations of the previous decades, answered Alaungpaya's call. The 15-year-old Ywa enthusiastically joined his father's call. (He would later prove to be the most militaristic of all Konbaung kings). Ywa, now styled as Thado Minsaw, quickly proved a capable military commander—certainly, the most capable of Alaungpaya's sons, and became a top commander in his own right. By December 1753, the Konbaung forces had driven back Hanthawaddy invasion forces back to Ava, the fallen capital. The 17-year-old prince was given the overall command to recapture Ava. The prince's assault on 3 January 1754 succeeded, forcing Hanthawaddy troops to withdraw in disarray. Pleased, Alaungpaya made his second son the governor of Ava, (which had been totally sacked by the retreating Hanthawaddy forces). Just three months later, the Hanthawaddy invasion forces were back, this time in their full might. Konbaung forces led by Hsinbyushin and his elder brother Naungdawgyi were badly defeated at present-day Myingyan District. Hsinbyushin