principality · Mainland Southeast Asia
Ha Tien Principality
Origins
Mac Cuu, a Ming loyalist from Guangdong, settled at Ha Tien, then a Cambodian coastal town called Peam, in the late 17th century and developed it into a trading port with Cambodian approval. Around 1707 to 1708 he submitted to the Nguyen lords, who confirmed him as governor.
Rule and society
Ha Tien was run by the Mac family as a hereditary principality with its own army and fleet, trading rice, timber and goods across the Gulf with Siam, Batavia and China. Under Mac Thien Tu it became a cultural centre where Chinese and Vietnamese poets gathered, and its rulers intervened in Cambodian successions.
Decline and legacy
Taksin of the Thonburi Kingdom sacked Ha Tien in 1771, and the Tay Son wars further damaged it. Members of the Mac family continued as governors under the Nguyen dynasty into the early 19th century, and the territory was fully incorporated into Vietnam's provincial system by 1832.
Lineage
On the connections map
Open the full map →Connections (2)
- Ha Tien Principality was a vassal of Post-Angkorian Cambodia1707 CE – 1708 CE
- Ha Tien Principality was a vassal of Nguyen lords1708 CE – 1777 CE
More states of Mainland Southeast Asia →
Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Ha Tien Principality. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/ha-tien-principality
- MLA
- “Ha Tien Principality.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/ha-tien-principality. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Ha Tien Principality.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/ha-tien-principality.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Ha Tien Principality’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/ha-tien-principality (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻