Pegu

Pegu became the Mon capital in 1369 under King Binnya U, and under his son Razadarit it held its own against Ava through the Forty Years' War. Its golden age came with Dhammazedi, a monk whom Queen Shin Sawbu chose to succeed her: in his reign, from 1471 to 1492, the city grew rich on the sea trade and became a centre of Theravada learning.

In 1538 Pegu fell to Tabinshwehti of Toungoo, and his successor Bayinnaung made it the capital of the largest empire in Indochina, rebuilding its palace with twenty gates, each raised and named by a vassal ruler. European travellers of the late 16th century wrote of its splendour. The empire did not survive him: Pegu was looted and burned in 1599, and the court withdrew to Ava. A Mon revolt restored Hanthawaddy in 1740, but in 1757 Alaungpaya stormed the city and ended the last Mon kingdom.