Mạc Cửu (Chinese: 鄚玖; pinyin: Mò Jiǔ, chữ Hán: 鄚玖, Vietnamese: Mạc Cửu; Khmer: ម៉ាក គីវ [1] or ម៉ាក គូ; 1655– July 18, 1735), also spelled Mok Kui, was an exile from China who founded the Principality of Hà Tiên and ruled as its first monarch.

[5] Sometime between 1687 and 1695,[6] the Cambodian king granted him the Khmer title Okna (ឧកញ៉ា), and sponsored him to migrate to Banteay Meas, where he at first served as chief of a small Chinese and Vietnamese community.

In 1715, the Cambodian king, Thommo Reachea III (Vietnamese: Nặc Ông Thâm), invaded Hà Tiên with the support of Siam in order to regain the lost territory.

He also had a daughter, Mac Kim Dinh, who was married to the son of the exiled Chinese general Trần Thượng Xuyên.

[10][13] Mạc Cửu's descendants succeeded him as the governors of Hà Tiên until the title was abolished by the Vietnamese Nguyễn dynasty in 1832.