A
kaymakam (also spelled
kaimakam and
caimacam;
EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
:
sub-governor) is the title used for the
governorA governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
of a
provincialA province is a territorial unit, almost always an administrative division, within a country or state.-Roman provinces:The word is attested in English since c.1330, deriving from Old French province , which comes from the Latin word provincia, which referred to the sphere of activity which a...
districtDistricts are a type of administrative division, in some countries managed by a local government. They vary greatly in size, spanning entire regions or counties, several municipalities, or subdivisions of municipalities.-Austria:...
in the Republic of Turkey and in
LebanonLebanon , officially the Republic of Lebanon
[Republic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies...]
; additionally, it was a title used for roughly the same official position in the
Ottoman EmpireThe Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299 to November 1, 1922 The Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State (Ottoman Turkish: دَوْلَتِ عَلِیَّهِ عُثْمَانِیَّه Dawlet-il ʿAliyyat-il ʿOs̠māniyye, Modern Turkish:...
.
The modern
TurkishTurkish is spoken as a first language by over 63 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Cyprus, with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania and other...
term
kaymakam or
kaimakam originally comes from two
ArabicArabic is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages such as Hebrew and the Neo-Aramaic languages. In terms of speakers, the Arabic macrolanguage is the largest member of the Semitic language family. It is spoken by more than 280 million people as...
words as used in
Ottoman TurkishOttoman Turkish is the variety of the Turkish language that was used as the administrative and literary language of the Ottoman Empire. It contains extensive borrowings from Arabic and Persian languages and was written in a variant of the Perso-Arabic script...
:
kâim (قائم), meaning "in the place of"; and
makâm (مقام), originally used for "place" but, in this context, used with the sense of "office", "position", or "state".
A
kaymakam (also spelled
kaimakam and
caimacam;
EnglishEnglish is a West Germanic language that developed in England during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural influence of the British Empire during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries, and of the United States since the mid 20th century,...
:
sub-governor) is the title used for the
governorA governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
of a
provincialA province is a territorial unit, almost always an administrative division, within a country or state.-Roman provinces:The word is attested in English since c.1330, deriving from Old French province , which comes from the Latin word provincia, which referred to the sphere of activity which a...
districtDistricts are a type of administrative division, in some countries managed by a local government. They vary greatly in size, spanning entire regions or counties, several municipalities, or subdivisions of municipalities.-Austria:...
in the Republic of Turkey and in
LebanonLebanon , officially the Republic of Lebanon
[Republic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies...]
; additionally, it was a title used for roughly the same official position in the
Ottoman EmpireThe Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State , also known by its contemporaries as the Turkish Empire or Turkey , was an empire that lasted from 1299 to November 1, 1922 The Ottoman Empire or Ottoman State (Ottoman Turkish: دَوْلَتِ عَلِیَّهِ عُثْمَانِیَّه Dawlet-il ʿAliyyat-il ʿOs̠māniyye, Modern Turkish:...
.
Etymology
The modern
TurkishTurkish is spoken as a first language by over 63 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Cyprus, with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania and other...
term
kaymakam or
kaimakam originally comes from two
ArabicArabic is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages such as Hebrew and the Neo-Aramaic languages. In terms of speakers, the Arabic macrolanguage is the largest member of the Semitic language family. It is spoken by more than 280 million people as...
words as used in
Ottoman TurkishOttoman Turkish is the variety of the Turkish language that was used as the administrative and literary language of the Ottoman Empire. It contains extensive borrowings from Arabic and Persian languages and was written in a variant of the Perso-Arabic script...
:
kâim (قائم), meaning "in the place of"; and
makâm (مقام), originally used for "place" but, in this context, used with the sense of "office", "position", or "state". Thus, in Ottoman times, a
kâim-makâm was a state officer who was considered a representative of the
sultanThe Ottoman Dynasty ruled the Ottoman Empire from 1299 to 1922, beginning with Osman I , though the dynasty was not proclaimed until Orhan Bey declared himself 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
‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib' was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and ruled over the Islamic Caliphate from 656 to 661...
, who is supposed to have been appointed by the
Islamic prophetMuslims regard as prophets of Islam those non-divine humans chosen by Allah . Mere humans rely on revelation or tradition to identify prophets....
,
MuhammadMuhammad ibn ‘Abdullāh , is the founder of the religion of Islam [ إِسْلامْ ] and is regarded by Muslims as a messenger and prophet of , the last and the greatest law-bearer in a series of Islamic prophets as taught by the...
, as the first rightful
caliphThe Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the leader of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transliterated version of the Arabic word which means "successor" or "representative"...
. Thus, ‘Alī was considered to be serving "in the place of" Muhammad.
The term has a more specific meaning in
MoldaviaMoldavia is a geographic and historical region and former principality in Eastern Europe, corresponding to the territory between the Eastern Carpathians and the Dniester river...
n and
WallachiaWallachia or Walachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians...
n history, where it refers to a temporary replacement for a
HospodarHospodar or gospodar is a term of Slavonic origin, meaning "lord" or "master".The rulers of Wallachia and Moldavia were styled hospodars in Slavic writings from the 15th century to 1866. Hospodar was used in addition to the title voivod...
("prince"), in and after Phanariote rule, as well as the delegates of the
OlteniaOltenia is a historical province and geographical region of Romania, in western Wallachia...
n
BanBan is a title used in several states in central and south-eastern Europe between the 7th century and the 20th century.-Etymology:The word ban has entered the English language as a borrowing from South Slavic ban, meaning "lord, master; ruler"...
in
CraiovaCraiova , Romania's 6th largest city and capital of Dolj County, is situated near the east bank of the river Jiu in central Oltenia. It is a longstanding political center, and is located at approximately equal distances from the Southern Carpathians and the River Danube . Craiova is the chief...
after the main office was moved to
BucharestBucharest is the capital city, industrial and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmboviţa River....
during the same period (1761). In this context, the word may be spelled
caimacam, while the
RomanianRomanian or Daco-Romanian is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova. It has official status in Romania, Republic of Moldova, and the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina in Serbia...
term for the office is
căimăcămie.
In Arabia, four
hakimHakim or Al-hakim is a given name for a male. In the Arabic language, Hakim means wise.Hakim...
s (native rulers) of the later emirate of
QatarQatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally ', is an Arab emirate in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the larger Arabian Peninsula...
held the additional Ottoman title of kaymakam in their administrative capacity since 1872 of district administrator since the establishment of Ottoman sovereignty (as
kazanKazan is the capital city of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia, and one of Russia's largest cities. It is a major industrial, commercial and cultural center, and remains the most important center of Tatar culture. Since April 2009 Kazan has the legal right to brand itself as the "Third Capital" of...
[district] of Sandjak al-Hasa, within the vilayet of Baghdad, from 1875 Basra vilayet) till this was exchanged on 3 November 1916 with a British
protectorateA protectorate, in international law, is an autonomous territory that is protected diplomatically or militarily against third parties by a stronger state or entity. In exchange for this, the protectorate usually accepts specified obligations, which may vary greatly, depending on the real nature of...
(as Sheikdom of Qatar, colonially under the chief political
residentA Resident, or in full Resident Minister, is a state official of certain representative -diplomatic and/or colonial- types, required to take up permanent residency abroad officially.-Resident Ministers:...
of the Persian Gulf, at Bahrein). 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 armyThe military of the Ottoman Empire was divided in three organizational structures: the Army, Navy, and Air Force. The history of the Ottoman Army can be divided in two main periods...
, as well as in the
EgyptThe history of Egypt under the Muhammad Ali Pasha dynasty was a period of rapid reform and modernization that led to Egypt becoming one of the most developed states outside of Europe...
of
Muhammad AliMuhammad Ali Pasha al-Mas'ud ibn Agha , Muhamed Ali Pasha in Albanian or Kavalalı Mehmet Ali Paşa in Turkish, was born 4 March in 1769 in Kavala in the Ottoman territory of Macedonia - died at Alexandria August 2, 1849, was Wāli of Egypt and Sudan, and is regarded as the "founder of modern Egypt"...
, the title of
kaymakam came to be used for a
lieutenant colonelLieutenant colonel is a rank of commissioned officer in the armies and most marine forces and air forces of the world, typically ranking above a major and below a colonel. The rank of lieutenant colonel is often shortened to simply "colonel" in conversation and in unofficial correspondence...
; it was also applied to naval commanders in the same context.
Mustafa KemalMustafa Kemal Atatürk was a Turkish army officer, revolutionary statesman, and founder of the Republic of Turkey as well as its first President....
, the founder of modern Turkey, also served as a
kaymakam for the 57th
regimentA regiment is a military unit, composed of variable numbers of battalions, commanded by a Colonel. A regiment can be broken into two distinct categories, one being an administrative unit which is responsible for non-operational management of battalions , while the other being a deployable combat...
in the
Battle of GallipoliThe Gallipoli Campaign took place at Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey from 25 April 1915 to 9 January 1916, during the First World War. A joint British Empire and French operation was mounted to capture the Ottoman capital of Istanbul, and secure a sea route to Russia...
.
Kaymakams as an official rank
- ‘Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib
' was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and ruled over the Islamic Caliphate from 656 to 661...
- Boğazlıyan Kaymakamı
- Yalova Kaymakamı
Kaymakams as a military rank
- Mustafa Kemal
- Kaymakam Şerif Bey
The rank is attested in use with a British officer commanding the Equatorial Battalion in East Africa, 1918: Kaimakam R F White DSO who was an officer of the Essex Regiment. 1
Sources and references
(incomplete)
1 WO 100/410 folio 283 - medal roll for "East Africa 1918" clasp to Africa General Service Medal, The National Archives, Kew