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Ottoman BureaucracyPeople, places and careers in Ottoman public service

Job title

Basmudur Vekili

Group of job titles: Management

Stored spellings: Basmudur Vekili; basmudur vekili

5 officials held the job title Basmudur Vekili. Its 6 annual entries run from 1901 to 1910 (AH 1319 to 1327). The median of the 6 recorded monthly salaries is 2,150 kuruş, against 500 kuruş for the whole collection in the same years. The median entry paid 4.5 times the collection median of its year. On average an official was paid more than 96 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 1 different years, and a quarter in 1 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 5 places. The place with the largest number of officials is Thessaloniki (Selanik), with 1.

Officials
5
Years on recordAH 1319 to 1327, 4 years with an entry
1901 to 1910
Median monthly salary4.49× the collection median of the same years (500 kuruş)
2,150 kuruş
Places with officials
5
First job title on recordfor 0 of the 5 officials
0%

Profile of the group: Management

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

Directors of the offices and departments of the service. Under the regulation of November 1876 the administration of posts and telegraphs had a director general, a chief director (başmüdür) for each of its two departments, principal directors and inspectors in the provinces, directors (müdür) of the districts, and clerks in the smaller places, each answering to the one above.

Duties

  • run an office of the service and direct its clerks
  • in a telegraph office, keep the daily duty turns of the clerks, see that the apparatus is clean and working, and send a fault the office cannot repair to the mechanics (makineci) of the province or of Istanbul
  • answer for the orderly and safe working of the office

Rank and pay

A schedule set by the centre paid telegraph directors of the first, second and third grade in the sancaks 1,200, 800 and 600 kuruş a month.

Sources

  1. Güneş, Mahir Melih (2026). Anadolu'da Telgrafın Toplumsal Tarihi (1856-1908). Doctoral thesis, Hacettepe University. Online copy (read 11 October 2026).Pages or part: 115, 119. Used for: duties.
  2. Okan, Ayşegül (2003). The Ottoman postal and telegraph services in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. MA thesis, Boğaziçi University, Atatürk Institute for Modern Turkish History.Pages or part: 49. Used for: summary.
  3. The school and the office: training, entry and pay in the Ottoman Post and Telegraph service, 1870-1905. Working paper, 2026 (the paper behind this collection; its Section II reports Akyıldız 2024, Ata 2022 and Ayhan and Maviş 1994).Pages or part: Section II. Used for: rank and pay.

Pay against the whole collection

Officials by their median monthly salary in this job
Officials of this jobWhole collection
20%40%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 (40%) are in the band 1,500 to 2,500 kuruş.

The same numbers as a table
Officials of Basmudur Vekili 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 1,00000%5%
1,000 to 1,500120%4%
1,500 to 2,500240%2%
2,500 and more240%1%

The median of the 6 recorded monthly salaries of this job is 2,150 kuruş. In the same years the whole collection paid a median of 500 kuruş. The median entry paid 4.49× the collection median of its year, and the middle half of the entries between 3.19× and 5.2×. On average an official of this job was paid more than 96% of the other paid officials of the same year.

Times the collection median4.49×0.25×0.5×1×2×4×8×Share of paid officials earning less96%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
5 places with officials on record, 5 of them with a position on the map. A larger dot means more officials.
Seat of a province (vilayet) Office or region
AdanaHicazIstanbul (Dersaadet)Thessaloniki (Selanik)Van1 official

All 5 places, all years
PlaceOfficialsRemark
Adana1
Hicaz1
Istanbul (Dersaadet)1
Thessaloniki (Selanik)1
Van1

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 Vekili. Pay: the change on moving from that title to Basmudur Vekili. The 5 titles with most officials, of 5 moves in all.

  1. 2. Müdürdirector of the second grade1
  2. Başmüdürchief director1
  3. Başmüdür Kitabeticlerkship of the chief director's office1
  4. Müfettişinspector1
  5. Müfettiş Muaviniassistant inspector1

Held just after

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

  1. 2. Müdürdirector of the second grade1
  2. Başmüdürchief director1
  3. Başmüdür Kitabeticlerkship of the chief director's office1

Of the 8 moves shown, 0 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
1 yearmedian over 5 officials
A quarter of the officials
1 year or moreupper quartile
Most years of one official
2 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 recorded100%5 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)100%5

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 2920%1
  5. 30 to 3440%2
  6. 35 to 3940%2
  7. 40 and over0%0

Province of birth

5 officials with it recorded.

  1. Istanbul (Dersaadet) province60%3
  2. Crete (Girit) province20%1
  3. Edirne 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. Rüşdiye60%3
  2. Darüşşafaka20%1
  3. Higher or professional20%1
  4. Other named school20%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 Vekili, the place with most officials first
PlaceProvinceOfficialsAnnual entriesYears
Thessaloniki (Selanik)Thessaloniki (Selanik) province121901 to 1903
AdanaAdana province111904/05
HicazHejaz (Hicaz) province111901/02
Istanbul (Dersaadet)Istanbul (Dersaadet) province111909/10
VanVan province111902/03

Ottoman officials recorded

5 officials, the one with most annual entries first.

Officials of Basmudur Vekili
OfficialYearsAnnual entriesKuruş a monthBirthplace
İbrahim Suphi Efendi1901 to 190322,600Istanbul (Dersaadet)
Mahmut Nihat Efendi1902/0311,500Chania (Hanya)
Mehmet Asaf Efendi1909/1014,896Istanbul (Dersaadet)
Mehmet Hilmi Efendi1901/0211,200Istanbul (Dersaadet)
Unnamed official (0087_0142, sayfa no:281.)1904/0511,700Vize

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