It comes one day after the government announced widespread reductions in prisoner sentences.
Activists say no prominent dissidents serving long terms were freed.
The main opposition group has expressed frustration and disappointment at the limited scale of the amnesty for political detainees.
Most of those released were serving terms for criminal offences.
Our correspondent says that the issue of political prisoners is a key point of contention between the Burmese government and Western nations that maintain sanctions on the country because of its poor human rights record.
Political detainees include journalists, pro-democracy activists, government critics, monks involved in anti-government protests and members of Burma’s ethnic groups fighting for greater autonomy.
Western governments have indicated that more needs to be done before sanctions will be lifted.