Like the Pagan Empire, Ava, Hanthawaddy and the Shan states were all multi-ethnic polities. Despite the wars, cultural synchronisation continued. This period is considered a golden age for Burmese culture. Burmese literature "grew more confident, popular, and stylistically diverse", and the second generation of Burmese law codes as well as the earliest pan-Burma chronicles emerged.[59] Hanthawaddy monarchs introduced religious reforms that later spread to the rest of the country.[60] Many splendid temples of Mrauk U were built during this period.
Taungoo and colonialism[edit]