Mutasarrifate

Mutasarrif, mutesarrif, mutasarriff, or mutesarriff (Ottoman Turkish: متصرّف, romanized: mutasarrıf, lit. 'plenipotentiary') was the title used in the Ottoman Empire and places like post-Ottoman Iraq for the governor of an administrative district in place of the usual sanjakbey. The Ottoman rank of mutasarrif was established as part of a 1864 reform, and its holder was appointed directly by the Sultan. The administrative district under his authority, the mutasarrifate (mutasarriflık), was officially called a sanjak (سنجاق) in Turkish or liwa (لواء) in Arabic and Persian. A mutasarrif was subordinate to a wali or governor-general of a province, while being of superior rank to a kaymakam.