Каймакам: исторический титул османских чиновников и его современное использование.

Title for a district governor in Turkey, Northern Cyprus, Lebanon and the Ottoman Empire

Kaymakam, also known by many other romanizations, was a title used by various officials of the Ottoman Empire, including acting grand viziers, governors of provincial sanjaks, and administrators of district kazas. The title has been retained and is sometimes used without translation for provincial or subdistrict governors in various Ottoman successor states, including the Republic of Turkey, Kuwait, Iraq, and Lebanon.

The title has been romanized in English since 1645 with extremely numerous spelling variations. The most common present day forms are kaymakam, kaimakam, and qaimaqam. The modern Turkish term is kaymakam, from Ottoman Turkish kaymakam (قایمقام), from Arabic qāʾim maqām (قَائِم مَقَام‎‎), meaning "stand in" or "deputy".

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 viziers, 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. 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.