A kaza (, "judgment" or "jurisdiction") was an

administrative division Administrative divisions (also administrative units, administrative regions, subnational entities, or constituent states, as well as many similar generic terms) are geographical areas into which a particular independent sovereign state is divi ...

of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. It is also discussed in English under the names district, subdistrict, and juridical district. Kazas continued to be used by some of the empire's successor states. At present, they are used by

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

, and in

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

discussion of

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. In these contexts, they are also known by the Arabic name qada, qadā, or qadaa (, ).

Former use

Ottoman Empire

In the Ottoman Empire, a kaza was originally equivalent to the

kadiluk A kadiluk (, ) was the jurisdiction of a kadi, an Islamic judge under the Ottoman Empire. They typically consisted of a major city and its surrounding villages, although some kadis occupied other positions within the imperial administration. ...

, the district subject to the legal and administrative jurisdiction of a kadi or judge of

Islamic law Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on scriptures of Islam, particularly the Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' refers to immutable, intan ...

. This usually corresponded to a major city of the empire with its surrounding villages. A small number of kazas made up each

sanjak A sanjak or sancak (, , "flag, banner") was an administrative division of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans also sometimes called the sanjak a liva (, ) from the name's calque in Arabic and Persian. Banners were a common organization of nomad ...

("banner") under a

sanjakbey ''Sanjak-bey'', ''sanjaq-bey'' or ''-beg'' () was the title given in the Ottoman Empire to a bey (a high-ranking officer, but usually not a pasha) appointed to the military and administrative command of a district (''sanjak'', in Arabic '' liwa’' ...

. Each kaza was in turn made up of one or more

nahiyes A nāḥiyah ( , plural ''nawāḥī'' ), also nahiyeh, 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 divisi ...

("districts") under müdürs and

mütesellim ''Mütesellim'' or ''mutesellim'' () was an Ottoman gubernatorial title used to describe mainly the head of a ''nahiye'', but also other positions within the Ottoman hierarchy, depending on the context. Mostly this title was used for civil gover ...

s and several karyes ("villages") under muhtars. With the first round of ''

Tanzimat The (, , lit. 'Reorganization') was a period of liberal reforms in the Ottoman Empire that began with the Edict of Gülhane of 1839 and ended with the First Constitutional Era in 1876. Driven by reformist statesmen such as Mustafa Reşid Pash ...

'' reforms in 1839, the administrative duties of each district's kadi were transferred to a

kaymakam Kaymakam, also known by #Names, 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 reta ...

("governor") appointed by the

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the ...

and a treasurer, with the kadis restricted to solely religious and judicial roles. Kazas were further emended and distinguished from the kadiluks under the 1864 Provincial Reform Law, implemented over the following decade as part of efforts by the Porte to establish uniform and rational administration across the empire. The 1871 revisions removed the kazas' responsibility for direct supervision of their villages, placing them all under nearby nahiyes instead.

Mandatory Palestine

The

subdistricts A subdistrict or sub-district is an administrative division that is generally smaller than a district. Equivalents * Administrative posts of East Timor, formerly Portuguese-language * Kelurahan, in Indonesia * Mukim, a township in Brunei, Indon ...

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...

were known as nafa () in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

but as kaza, qada, etc. in Arabic. The same terms continue to be used in present-day

and

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

Syria

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

used kazas, qadas, etc. as its second-level administrative division after independence but later renamed them

mintaqah Minṭaqah ( ; plural ) is a term used for a first-level administrative division in Saudi Arabia and Chad and for a second-level administrative division in several other Arab countries. It is often translated as ''region'' or ''district'', but t ...

Turkey

The

Republic of Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

continued to use kazas until the late 1920s, when it renamed them subprovinces ().

Current use

Kaza, qada, etc. is also used to refer to the following: *

Districts of Iraq Iraq's 19 governorates of Iraq, governorates are subdivided into 120 districts (''kaza, qada''). The district usually bears the same name as the district capital. The districts are listed below, by governorate (with capital in parentheses): Al ...

(second-level, below the governorates) *

Districts of Lebanon The nine governorates of Lebanon are subdivided into 26 districts (''Aqdya'', singular''qadaa''). Beirut Governorate is not subdivided into districts, and Akkar Governorate comprises a single district. The districts are further divided into muni ...

(second-level, below the governorates) *

Subdistricts of Israel There are six main administrative districts of Israel, known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as (; sing. , ) and in Arabic as . There are also 15 subdistricts of Israel, known in Hebrew (; sing. , ) and in Arabic as . Each subdistrict is furth ...

(second-level, below the districts, in Arabic) * Subdistricts of Jordan (third-level, below the governorates and the districts)

Notes

References

{{Turkish terms for country subdivisions Subdivisions of the Ottoman Empire Types of administrative division Arabic words and phrases