A kaza (, , , plural: , , ; ota, قضا, script=Arab,
[ (; meaning 'borough')][
* bg, околия (; meaning 'district');][ also Кааза
* el, υποδιοίκησις () or (, which means 'borough' or 'municipality');][ also ()
* lad, kaza][
, group=note) is an ]administrative division
Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...
historically used in the Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
and is currently used in several of its successor states. The term is from Ottoman Turkish and means 'jurisdiction'; it is often translated 'district',[ 'sub-district'][ (though this also applies to a ), or 'juridical district'.][
]
Ottoman Empire
In the Ottoman Empire, a kaza was originally a "geographical area subject to the legal and administrative jurisdiction of a '' kadı''.[ With the first Tanzimat reforms of 1839, the administrative duties of the ''kadı'' were transferred to a governor ''( kaymakam)'', with the ''kadıs'' acting as judges of ]Islamic law
Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the ...
.[ In the Tanzimat era, the kaza became an administrative district with the 1864 Provincial Reform Law, which was implemented over the following decade.][ A kaza unified the jurisdiction of a governor ''(kaymakam)'' appointed by the Ministry of the Interior,][ a treasurer (chief finance officer), and a judge ''(kadı)'' in a single administrative unit.][ It was part of efforts of the Porte to establish uniform, rational administration across the empire.][
The kaza was a subdivision of a ]sanjak
Sanjaks (liwāʾ) (plural form: alwiyāʾ)
* Armenian: նահանգ (''nahang''; meaning "province")
* Bulgarian: окръг (''okrǔg''; meaning "county", "province", or "region")
* el, Διοίκησις (''dioikēsis'', meaning "province" ...
[ and corresponded roughly to a city with its surrounding villages. Kazas, in turn, were divided into ]nahiyes
A nāḥiyah ( ar, , plural ''nawāḥī'' ), also nahiya or nahia, is a regional or local type of administrative division that usually consists of a number of villages or sometimes smaller towns. In Tajikistan, it is a second-level division w ...
(governed by ''müdürs'' and '' mütesellims'') and villages (''karye'', governed by '' muhtars'').[ The 1871 revisions to the administrative law established the nahiye (still governing a ''müdür''), as an intermediate level between the kaza and the village.][
]
Turkey
The early Republic of Turkey continued to use the term ''kaza'' until it renamed them ilçe
The 81 provinces of Turkey are divided into 973 districts (''ilçeler''; sing. ''ilçe''). In the early Turkish Republic and in the Ottoman Empire, the corresponding unit was the ''kaza''.
Most provinces bear the same name as their respectiv ...
in the 1920s.
Arab countries
The kaza was also formerly a second-level administrative division in Syria, but it is now called a mintaqah.
The kaza or qadaa is used to refer to the following:
* districts of Iraq (second-level, below the governorate)
* districts of Lebanon (second-level, below the governorate)
* Sub-districts (third-level, below the governorate and the district)
* subdistricts of Mandatory Palestine
The Districts and Sub-districts of Mandatory Palestine formed the first and second levels of administrative division and existed through the whole era of Mandatory Palestine, namely from 1920 to 1948. The number and territorial extent of the dist ...
* Counties of Israel
See also
* Alcalde
* Qadi
A qāḍī ( ar, قاضي, Qāḍī; otherwise transliterated as qazi, cadi, kadi, or kazi) is the magistrate or judge of a '' sharīʿa'' court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and mino ...
Notes
References
{{Turkish terms for country subdivisions
Subdivisions of the Ottoman Empire
Types of administrative division
Arabic words and phrases