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Ottoman BureaucracyPeople, places and careers in Ottoman public service

Job title

BasmudurV.

Group of job titles: Management

Note: The abbreviation 'V.' is not expanded here. Kept apart from Basmudur Vekili

7 officials held the job title BasmudurV. Its 16 annual entries run from 1861 to 1906 (AH 1278 to 1323). The median of the 16 recorded monthly salaries is 1,500 kuruş, against 500 kuruş for the whole collection in the same years. The median entry paid 3 times the collection median of its year. On average an official was paid more than 90 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 2 different years, and a quarter in 3 or more. It was the first title on record for 0 per cent of the officials and the last for 0 per cent. The title most often held just before it and the title most often held just after it are the same, Başmüdür (5 and 6 officials). The entries name 9 places. The place with the largest number of officials is Kastamonu, with 1.

Officials
7
Years on recordAH 1278 to 1323, 10 years with an entry
1861 to 1906
Median monthly salary3× the collection median of the same years (500 kuruş)
1,500 kuruş
Places with officials
9
First job title on recordfor 0 of the 7 officials
0%

Profile of the group: Management

No source read describes BasmudurV. 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
14%86%01002003004005007501,0001,5002,500

7 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 (86%) are in the band 1,500 to 2,500 kuruş.

The same numbers as a table
Officials of BasmudurV. 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 1,500114%4%
1,500 to 2,500686%2%
2,500 and more00%1%

The median of the 16 recorded monthly salaries of this job is 1,500 kuruş. In the same years the whole collection paid a median of 500 kuruş. The median entry paid 3× the collection median of its year, and the middle half of the entries between 3× and 3.16×. On average an official of this job was paid more than 90% of the other paid officials of the same year.

Times the collection median3×0.25×0.5×1×2×4×Share of paid officials earning less90%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
9 places with officials on record, 9 of them with a position on the map. A larger dot means more officials.
Seat of a province (vilayet) Seat of a sancak District (kaza) Office or region
DersimDiyarbakırHudavendigarIoannina (Yanya)KastamonuKonyaKosovaMostar1 official

All 9 places, all years
PlaceOfficialsRemark
Dersim1
Diyarbakır1
Hudavendigar1
Ioannina (Yanya)1
Kastamonu1
Konya1
Kosova1
Mostar1
Vlorë (Avlonya)1

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 BasmudurV.. Pay: the change on moving from that title to BasmudurV.. The 4 titles with most officials, of 8 moves in all.

  1. Başmüdürchief director5pay -1,000 kuruş (-40%)
  2. Müfettiş Muaviniassistant inspector1
  3. Muhaberat-ı Ecnebiye Memuriyetipost of official for foreign communications1
  4. PT Nezareti Meclisi Azasi1

Held just after

The title of the entries just after a run of BasmudurV.. Pay: the change on moving from BasmudurV. to that title. The 2 titles with most officials, of 8 moves in all.

  1. Başmüdürchief director6pay +500 kuruş (+33%)
  2. Müfettiş Muaviniassistant inspector2

Of the 16 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
2 yearsmedian over 7 officials
A quarter of the officials
2.5 years or moreupper quartile
Most years of one official
5 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 it0%0 officials
  3. No other job titlein the whole record0%0 officials
  4. One place in the jobof 7 officials with a place recorded86%6 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

7 officials with it recorded.

  1. Muslim (Müslüman)86%6
  2. Greek Orthodox Christian (Rum)14%1

Age at the first annual entry in the job

7 officials with it recorded.

  1. under 150%0
  2. 15 to 190%0
  3. 20 to 2414%1
  4. 25 to 290%0
  5. 30 to 340%0
  6. 35 to 390%0
  7. 40 and over86%6

Province of birth

7 officials with it recorded.

  1. Istanbul (Dersaadet) province43%3
  2. Eastern Rumelia (Rumeli-i Şarkî) province29%2
  3. Edirne province14%1
  4. Mamuretülaziz province14%1

Schooling

7 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. Higher or professional57%4
  2. Primary57%4
  3. Community school14%1

Languages

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

  1. Turkish86%6
  2. Arabic29%2
  3. French29%2
  4. Persian29%2
  5. Greek (Rum)14%1

Qualification

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

  1. No100%7
All years

Officials on record each year

The fullest year is 1879/80 (AH 1297) with 5 officials. Years with an annual entry: 10.
0123451863/64AH 12801868/69AH 12851873/74AH 12901878AH 12951882/83AH 13001887/88AH 13051892/93AH 13101897/98AH 13151902/03AH 13205 in 1879/80Recorded in an earlier year tooFirst recorded in this year

The same numbers as a table
Officials on record each year, BasmudurV.
YearOfficials on recordFirst recordedAnnual entries
1861/62 (AH 1278)111
1862/63 (AH 1279)101
1871/72 (AH 1288)101
1879/80 (AH 1297)555
1880/81 (AH 1298)303
1901/02 (AH 1319)111
1902/03 (AH 1320)101
1903/04 (AH 1321)101
1904/05 (AH 1322)101
1905/06 (AH 1323)101

An official is counted once in a year. First recorded is the first year in which the collection has an annual entry of the official on this page. It is not a hiring date.

Places

Places of BasmudurV., the place with most officials first
PlaceProvinceOfficialsAnnual entriesYears
KastamonuKastamonu province151901 to 1906
DersimMamuretülaziz province121879 to 1881
HudavendigarHüdavendigâr province121879 to 1881
KonyaKonya province121879 to 1881
DiyarbakırDiyarbakır province111871/72
Ioannina (Yanya)Ioannina (Yanya) province111879/80
KosovaKosovo (Kosova) province111879/80
MostarBosnia (Bosna) province111862/63
Vlorë (Avlonya)Ioannina (Yanya) province111861/62

Ottoman officials recorded

7 officials, the one with most annual entries first.

Officials of BasmudurV.
OfficialYearsAnnual entriesKuruş a monthBirthplace
Mehmet Emin Efendi1901 to 190651,580Istanbul (Dersaadet)
Abdülkerim Efendi1879 to 188121,500Istanbul (Dersaadet)
Ahmet Efendi1879 to 188121,500Arapgir
Asaf Bey1879 to 188121,500Plovdiv (Filibe)
Ahmet Cavit Bey1879/8011,500Plovdiv (Filibe)
Süleyman Fevzi Efendi1879/8011,500Gelibolu
Unnamed official (0002_0176; 350)1861 to 187231,000 to 1,330Istanbul (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