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Ottoman BureaucracyPeople, places and careers in Ottoman public service

Job title

Basmudur Baskitabeti

Group of job titles: Correspondence and registry

Stored spellings: Basmudur Baskitabeti; basmudur baskitabeti

5 officials held the job title Basmudur Baskitabeti. Its 22 annual entries run from 1899 to 1910 (AH 1317 to 1327). The median of the 22 recorded monthly salaries is 900 kuruş, against 475 kuruş for the whole collection in the same years. The median entry paid 2 times the collection median of its year. On average an official was paid more than 86 per cent of the other officials with a salary in the same year. Half of the officials have an entry in it in no more than 3 different years, and a quarter in 6 or more. It was the first title on record for 0 per cent of the officials and the last for 40 per cent. The entries name 4 places. The place with the largest number of officials is Ankara, with 2.

Officials
5
Years on recordAH 1317 to 1327, 11 years with an entry
1899 to 1910
Median monthly salary2× the collection median of the same years (475 kuruş)
900 kuruş
Places with officials
4
First job title on recordfor 0 of the 5 officials
0%

Profile of the group: Correspondence and registry

No source read describes Basmudur Baskitabeti by itself, so this is the profile of its group of job titles.

Offices that wrote, copied, registered and kept the papers of a department: correspondence offices (tahrirat), the offices of the corresponding secretary (mektubi), records offices (evrak) and registrars (mukayyit).

Hard skills

  • official writing (kitabet, inşa) and fine handwriting, taught first in the offices and from 1839 in schools for officials

History

Before the reforms clerks were trained in the offices (kalem) themselves. Boys of twelve, or even seven or eight, attended an office and learned the forms of official writing from senior clerks; after three to five years without pay they became supernumeraries (mülazım) on a small salary.

Sources

  1. Akyıldız, Ali (2019). Mekteb-i Maârif-i Adliyye. TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, supplement vol. 2 (revised third printing), 236-238. Online copy (read 14 October 2026).Pages or part: 236. Used for: hard skills, history.
  2. Findley, Carter V. (1980). Bureaucratic Reform in the Ottoman Empire: The Sublime Porte, 1789-1922. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Pages or part: 78, 171-172, 199. Used for: summary.
  3. İpşirli, Mehmet (2001). Kalemiye. TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 24, 248-249. Online copy (read 14 October 2026).Pages or part: 248-249. Used for: hard skills, history.
All years

Monthly salary each year

The median of the 22 recorded monthly salaries is 900 kuruş, the mean 1,177 kuruş.
05001,0001,5001899/1900AH 13171900/01AH 13181901/02AH 13191902/03AH 13201903/04AH 13211904/05AH 13221905/06AH 13231906/07AH 13241907/08AH 13251908/09AH 13261909/10AH 13271,000 kuruş in 1909/10Basmudur Baskitabeti, fewer than 5 salaries in every year

The same numbers as a table
Monthly salary each year in kuruş, Basmudur Baskitabeti
YearRecorded salariesMedianMeanLower quartileUpper quartileMedian of the whole collection
1899/19001900900900900500
1900/0121,4501,4501,1751,725500
1901/0221,4501,4501,1751,725500
1902/0321,4501,4501,1751,725500
1903/0439001,216.678251,450475
1904/0539001,216.678251,450450
1905/0639001,216.678251,450475
1906/072900900900900450
1907/081900900900900300
1908/092825825787.5862.5350
1909/1011,0001,0001,0001,000462.5

Salaries are nominal monthly amounts in kuruş, as assigned. The thick line is the median of each year and the thin line the mean. A year with fewer than 5 recorded salaries is drawn as an open mark and is not joined to the line.

Pay against the whole collection

Officials by their median monthly salary in this job
Officials of this jobWhole collection
60%40%01002003004005007501,0001,5002,500

5 officials with a salary, each counted once in the band of the median of the official's salaries in this job. A bar runs from its number to the next; the last is 2,500 kuruş and more. Most officials (60%) are in the band 750 to 1,000 kuruş.

The same numbers as a table
Officials of Basmudur Baskitabeti by median monthly salary
Median monthly salary, kuruşOfficialsShareWhole collection
0 to 10000%3%
100 to 20000%10%
200 to 30000%17%
300 to 40000%18%
400 to 50000%17%
500 to 75000%23%
750 to 1,000360%5%
1,000 to 1,50000%4%
1,500 to 2,500240%2%
2,500 and more00%1%

The median of the 22 recorded monthly salaries of this job is 900 kuruş. In the same years the whole collection paid a median of 475 kuruş. The median entry paid 2× the collection median of its year, and the middle half of the entries between 1.8× and 3.75×. On average an official of this job was paid more than 86% of the other paid officials of the same year.

Times the collection median2×0.25×0.5×1×2×4×8×Share of paid officials earning less86%0%25%50%75%100%

The dot is the median, the box the middle half of the entries. Dashed lines: the collection median of the same years (1×) and the middle of the paid officials (50%).

Where the job was held

All years
4 places with officials on record, 4 of them with a position on the map. A larger dot means more officials.
Seat of a province (vilayet) Office or region
AnkaraIoannina (Yanya)YemenEdirne2 officials1 official

All 4 places, all years
PlaceOfficialsRemark
Ankara2
Ioannina (Yanya)2
Yemen2
Edirne1

Career paths: the titles just before and after

The number is the officials who made the move. Under it, the median change of the monthly salary: the first salary of the later title less the last salary of the earlier one, where at least 5 moves have both.

Held just before

The title of the entries just before a run of Basmudur Baskitabeti. Pay: the change on moving from that title to Basmudur Baskitabeti. The 4 titles with most officials, of 5 moves in all.

  1. Başmüdür Kitabeticlerkship of the chief director's office2
  2. 3. Müdürdirector of the third grade1
  3. Mektubi Kalemioffice of the corresponding secretary1
  4. Sandık Emaneticustody of the cash chest1

Held just after

The title of the entries just after a run of Basmudur Baskitabeti. Pay: the change on moving from Basmudur Baskitabeti to that title. The 3 titles with most officials, of 3 moves in all.

  1. Başkitabetchief clerkship1
  2. Müfettişinspector1
  3. Muhasebe Kalemiaccounts office1

Of the 8 moves shown, 1 cross at least one year without an annual entry; nothing is known about those years. Two posts held in the same years are not counted as a move.

Time in the job

Years with an entry in the job
3 yearsmedian over 5 officials
A quarter of the officials
6 years or moreupper quartile
Most years of one official
8 years
  1. First job title on recordthe first year with an entry with a job title has it0%0 officials
  2. Last job title on recordthe last such year has it40%2 officials
  3. No other job titlein the whole record0%0 officials
  4. One place in the jobof 5 officials with a place recorded60%3 officials

Years are years with an annual entry in the job, each counted once for an official. They need not follow one another, and nothing is known about a year without an entry. With two posts in the first or last year, both count.

Who held the job

Officials of this jobWhole collection

Community

5 officials with it recorded.

  1. Muslim (Müslüman)80%4
  2. Armenian Christian (Ermeni)20%1

Age at the first annual entry in the job

5 officials with it recorded.

  1. under 150%0
  2. 15 to 190%0
  3. 20 to 240%0
  4. 25 to 2960%3
  5. 30 to 3420%1
  6. 35 to 390%0
  7. 40 and over20%1

Province of birth

5 officials with it recorded.

  1. Istanbul (Dersaadet) province60%3
  2. Ankara province20%1
  3. Ioannina (Yanya) province20%1

Schooling

5 officials with it recorded. An official can have several, so the shares add up to more than 100%. The groups of the schools recorded for each official.

  1. Rüşdiye40%2
  2. Darüşşafaka20%1
  3. Community school20%1
  4. Higher or professional20%1
  5. Other named school20%1

Languages

5 officials with it recorded. An official can have several, so the shares add up to more than 100%.

  1. Turkish100%5
  2. French60%3
  3. Greek (Rum)20%1

Qualification

5 officials with it recorded. A diploma, certificate, training or decoration (nişan) recorded in the schooling or the work.

  1. No80%4
  2. Yes20%1

Places

Places of Basmudur Baskitabeti, the place with most officials first
PlaceProvinceOfficialsAnnual entriesYears
AnkaraAnkara province2101899 to 1909
YemenYemen province261900 to 1906
Ioannina (Yanya)Ioannina (Yanya) province241903 to 1907
EdirneEdirne province121908 to 1910

Ottoman officials recorded

5 officials, the one with most annual entries first.

Officials of Basmudur Baskitabeti
OfficialYearsAnnual entriesKuruş a monthBirthplace
Kigork Zihni Efendi1899 to 19078900Ankara
Zeynelabidin Efendi1903 to 19096750 to 900Gjirokastër (Ergiri)
Mehmet Asaf Efendi1900 to 190332,000Istanbul (Dersaadet)
Ramiz Efendi1903 to 190632,000Istanbul (Dersaadet)
Mehmet Hilmi Efendi1908 to 19102750 to 1,000Istanbul (Dersaadet)

Years run from the first to the last annual entry. An official without a recorded name is listed after the named officials.

How to read these records: years and calendars, what first recorded means, gaps between annual entries, and salaries.

Subjects