In the mid-16th century, the First Toungoo Empire was the largest and strongest empire as well as one of the richest empires in Southeast Asia. It was the dominant power in mainland Southeast Asia and succeeded in creating a gigantic empire that included Mon and Shan states in the main domain, and was also able to annex territories to Kingdom of Lanna, Kingdom of Laos and the Ayutthaya kingdom. Early European accounts described that the lower part of the Toungoo Empire possessed 3-4 excellent ports that facilitated considerable trade in a variety of goods. The empire supplied the port of Malacca with rice and other foodstuffs as well as putting up luxury goods such as rubies, sapphires, musk, lac, benzoin, gold for trade. In return, the lower part of the empire imported Chinese manufactures and Indonesian spices. Merchants from West Asia and India exchanged large quantities of Indian textiles for Burmese luxury products and for eastern goods. The arrival of Portuguese further strengthened the empire’s position both commercially and militarily.