Kaymakam, also known by many other romanizations, was a title used by various officials of the Ottoman Empire, including acting , governors of provincial , and administrators of district . The title has been retained and is sometimes used without translation for province or subdistrict in various Ottoman , including the Republic of Turkey, Kuwait, Iraq, and Lebanon.
Names
The title has been
romanization in
English language since 1645 with extremely numerous spelling variations.
[.] The most common present-day forms are kaymakam,
kaimakam, and
qaimaqam. The modern
Turkish language term is kaymakam, from
Ottoman Turkish kaymakam (قایمقام), from
Arabic language qāʾim maqām (قَائِم مَقَام), meaning "stand in" or "deputy".
History
Ottoman Empire
In the
Ottoman Empire, the title of
kaymakam (known either as
sadâret kaymakamı or as
kaymakam pasha) was originally used for the official deputizing for the
Grand Vizier during the latter's illness, absence from the capital on campaign, or in the interval between the dismissal of one Grand Vizier and the arrival to the capital of a new appointee. The practice began in the 16th century, or perhaps even earlier, and continued until the end of the Empire.
The
kaymakam enjoyed the full plenitude of powers of the Grand Vizier, but was not allowed to intervene in the conduct of the military campaigns. Selected from the ranks of the
, the
kaymakam played an important role in the politics of the capital and often became involved in intrigues against the absent Grand Vizier, trying to replace him. In the last decades of the Empire, the post of
kaymakam was filled by the members of the imperial cabinet, or by the
Shaykh al-Islam.
The modernization and Westernization reforms instituted in the 19th century added new meanings to the term. With the establishment of the regular Asakir-i Mansure-i Muhammediye troops in 1826, kaymakam became a rank in the Ottoman army, equivalent to a lieutenant colonel. It remained in use throughout the final century of the Empire, and continued in use in the Turkey until the 1930s, when it was replaced by the title of yarbay.
Moldavian and Wallachian (Romanian) history
The term
Caimacam has a specific meaning in
and
history, where it refers to a temporary replacement for a
Domn (
Hospodar/"Prince"), in and after
Phanariote rule, as well as the delegates of the Oltenia 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 căimăcămie.
Persian Gulf history
Qatar history
In the Persian Gulf, 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 (as
qadaa district of
Sandjak Al-Ahsa Oasis, within the vilayet of Baghdad, from 1875
Basra vilayet) till this was exchanged on 3 November 1916 with a British
protectorate (as Sheikdom of Qatar, colonially under the chief political resident of the Persian Gulf, at
Bahrein).
Kuwait history
Similarly, three ruling native hakims of the later emirate of Kuwait, were also Kaymakam of a
qadaa in the same province, 1871 till a British protectorate, also on 3 November 1914.
Egyptian history
In
Egypt Eyalet, the title of
kaymakam was used in its generic sense of "lieutenant" for deputies or agents, but most notably, until the ascendancy of Muhammad Ali of Egypt, for the interim governors of the country, who served between the removal of one governor and the installation of the next one. In the tumultuous politics of the ruling
Mamluk elite, the appointment of a
kaymakam "became, particularly in the 18th century, a device by which a Mamluk faction would legitimize its ascendancy" before installing one of its own members as governor.
After Muhammad Ali consolidated his control of the country and his Westernizing reforms, the title, as in the rest of the Ottoman Empire, acquired a new technical meaning: in the army, it became a rank equivalent to lieutenant-colonel, while in the administration it signified the official in charge of a
nahiye, with particular responsibility for the maintenance of the irrigation system.
Kaymakams as a military rank
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.
[WO 100/410 folio 283 - medal roll for "East Africa 1918" clasp to Africa General Service Medal, The National Archives, Kew] In the 1947
Birthday Honours, a recipient of an MBE, Diran Bodossian, is referred to as "Assistant Paymaster Kaimakam" of the Trans-Jordan Frontier Force.
See also
-
Subdivisions of the Ottoman Empire
-
Double Qaim-Maqamate of Mount Lebanon
Sources
