Job title
Butce Kitabeti
Group of job titles: Correspondence and registry
4 officials held the job title Butce Kitabeti. Its 29 annual entries run from 1887 to 1902 (AH 1305 to 1319). The median of the 29 recorded monthly salaries is 1,100 kuruş, against 500 kuruş for the whole collection in the same years. The entries name 1 place, Istanbul.
- Officials
- 4
- Years on recordAH 1305 to 1319, 15 years with an entry
- 1887 to 1902
- Median monthly salaryfrom 29 recorded salaries
- 1,100 kuruş
- Places with officials
- 1
Profile of the group: Correspondence and registry
No source read describes Butce Kitabeti 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
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Monthly salary each year
The same numbers as a table
| Year | Recorded salaries | Median | Mean | Lower quartile | Upper quartile | Median of the whole collection |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1887/88 | 2 | 900 | 900 | 600 | 1,200 | 500 |
| 1888/89 | 2 | 950 | 950 | 625 | 1,275 | 500 |
| 1889/90 | 2 | 950 | 950 | 625 | 1,275 | 500 |
| 1890/91 | 3 | 700 | 866.67 | 500 | 1,150 | 500 |
| 1891/92 | 3 | 700 | 883.33 | 525 | 1,150 | 500 |
| 1892/93 | 2 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 700 | 1,300 | 500 |
| 1893/94 | 2 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 700 | 1,300 | 500 |
| 1894/95 | 3 | 840 | 1,006.67 | 635 | 1,295 | 500 |
| 1895/96 | 3 | 1,060 | 1,263.33 | 770 | 1,655 | 500 |
| 1896/97 | 2 | 1,485 | 1,485 | 1,215 | 1,755 | 500 |
| 1897/98 | 1 | 1,100 | 1,100 | 1,100 | 1,100 | 500 |
| 1898/99 | 1 | 1,200 | 1,200 | 1,200 | 1,200 | 500 |
| 1899/1900 | 1 | 1,200 | 1,200 | 1,200 | 1,200 | 500 |
| 1900/01 | 1 | 1,200 | 1,200 | 1,200 | 1,200 | 500 |
| 1901/02 | 1 | 1,200 | 1,200 | 1,200 | 1,200 | 500 |
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.
Places
| Place | Province | Officials | Annual entries | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Istanbul (Dersaadet) | Istanbul (Dersaadet) province | 4 | 29 | 1887 to 1902 |
Ottoman officials recorded
4 officials, the one with most annual entries first.
| Official | Years | Annual entries | Kuruş a month | Birthplace |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mehmet Talat Efendi | 1887 to 1896 | 9 | 300 to 480 | Istanbul (Dersaadet) |
| Mehmet Hasib Efendi | 1894 to 1902 | 8 | 840 to 1,200 | Istanbul (Dersaadet) |
| Unnamed official (0007_0144; 285) | 1887 to 1897 | 10 | 1,500 to 2,250 | Istanbul (Dersaadet) |
| Unnamed official (0007_0147; 291) | 1890 to 1892 | 2 | 700 | Istanbul (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
- Butce Kitabeti
- Ottoman job titles (Osmanlı memuriyet unvanları)
- Labour history (emek tarihi)
- Salaries of officials (memur maaşları)
- Ottoman history (Osmanlı tarihi)
- Ottoman bureaucracy (Osmanlı bürokrasisi)
- Ottoman officials (Osmanlı'da memurlar)
- Ottoman personnel registers (Sicill-i Ahvâl defterleri)
- Ottoman registers (Osmanlı defterleri)