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Kaymakam

Found in: Turkish titles

A kaymakam (also spelled kaimakam and caimacam) is the title used for the governor of a provincial district in the Republic of Turkey; additionally, it was a title used for roughly the same official position in the Ottoman Empire.

Etymology

The modern Turkish term kaymakam or kaimakam originally comes from two Arabic words as used in Ottoman Turkish: kaim , meaning "in the place of"; and makam , originally used for "place" but, in this context, used with the sense of "office", "position", or "state". Thus, in Ottoman times, a kaim-makam was a state officer who was considered a representative of the sultan at a local level; today, a kaymakam is a representative of the government or state at a local level.

History

According to some, the first kaymakam in history was Ali ibn Abi T&803;alib, who is supposed to have been appointed by the Islamic prophet, Muhammad, as the first rightful caliph. Thus, Ali was considered to be serving "in the place of" Muhammad.

The term has a more specific meaning in Moldavian and Wallachian history, where it refers to a temporary replacement for a Hospodar ("prince"), in and after Phanariote rule, as well as the delegates of the Oltenian Ban in Craiova after the main office was moved to Bucharest during the same period (1761). In this context, the word may be spelled caimacam, while the Romanian term for the office is caimacamie.

In Arabia, four hakims (native rulers) of the later emirate of Qatar held the additional Ottoman title of kaymakam in their administrative capacity since 1872 of district administrator since the establishment of Ottoman sovereignty till this was exchanged on 3 November 1916 with a British protectorate . Similarly, three ruling native hakims of the later emirate of Kuwait, were also also Kaymakam of a kazan in the same province, 1871 till a British protectorate, also on 3 November 1914.

In the Ottoman army, as well as in the Egypt of Muhammad Ali, the title of kaymakam came to be used for a lieutenant colonel; it was also applied to naval commanders in the same context. Mustafa Kemal, the founder of modern Turkey, also served as a kaymakam for the 57th regiment in the Battle of Gallipoli.

Kaymakams as an official rank

Ali ibn Abi T&803;alib

Bogazliyan Kaymakami

Yalova Kaymakami

Kaymakams as a military rank

Mustafa Kemal

Kaymakam Serif Bey

See also

Subdivisions of the Ottoman Empire

Sources and references

(incomplete)

WorldStatesmen- see present nations

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Kaymakam