Kaymakam Qaim Maqam or Qaimaqam or Kaymakam ( also spelled kaimakam and caimacam ; , " sub - governor " ) is the title used for the governor of a provincial district in the Republic of Turkey , Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and in Lebanon ; additionally , it was a title used for roughly the same official position in the Ottoman Empire . Etymology . The modern Turkish term " kaymakam " originally comes from two originally Arabic words as used in Ottoman Turkish : " kâim " ( قائم ) , meaning " standing " ; 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 , or " standing in place " of the sultan at a local level ; today , a " kaymakam " is a representative of the government or state at a local level . History . Islamic history . According to some , the first " kaymakam " in history was ‘ Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib , who is supposed to have been appointed by the Islamic prophet , Muhammad , as the first rightful caliph . Thus , ‘ Alī was considered to be serving " in the place of " Muhammad . Moldavia n and Wallachia n history . The term Qaim Maqam has a specific meaning in Moldavia n and Wallachia n history , where it refers to a temporary replacement for a Hospodar ( " prince " ) , in and after Phanariote rule , as well as the delegates of the Oltenia n Ban in Craiova after the main office was moved to Bucharest during the same period ( 1761 ) . Romanian history . In this context , the word may be spelled " caimacam " , while the Romanian term for the office is " căimăcămie " . Arabian history . 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 ( as kaza [ 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 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 kaza s in the same province , 1871 till a British protectorate , also on 3 November 1914 . Ottoman Empire . 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 . In Ottoman Egypt , the title " kaymakam " also referred to the acting governor in the time between the departure from the office of the previous governor and the arrival of the next one . Mustafa Kemal , the founder of modern Turkey , also served as a " kaymakam " for the 57th regiment in the Battle of Gallipoli . 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 1 WO 100 / 410 folio 283 - medal roll for " East Africa 1918 " clasp to Africa General Service Medal , The National Archives , Kew