A Muslim judge or magistrate in North Africa and the Middle East, or a local chief or administrator.
From Arabic 'qāʾid,' meaning leader or judge. The term was widely adopted throughout Islamic lands and entered European languages through colonial contact and orientalist texts. Related to English 'caid' and 'qaid' spellings.
The caid system was how many North African regions governed themselves for centuries before European colonization—understanding colonial power dynamics means understanding that colonizers didn't find 'lawless' lands but replaced existing legal systems with their own.
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