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Ottoman BureaucracyPeople, places and careers in Ottoman public service

Job title

Mandapost Memuru

Group of job titles: Postal service and dispatch

16 officials held the job title Mandapost Memuru. Its 28 annual entries run from 1900 to 1908 (AH 1318 to 1325). The median of the 28 recorded monthly salaries is 800 kuruş, against 500 kuruş for the whole collection in the same years. The median entry paid 1.6 times the collection median of its year. On average an official was paid more than 77 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 2 or more. It was the first title on record for 0 per cent of the officials and the last for 31 per cent. The title held just before it by most officials is Muhabere Memuru (6 officials). The entries name 9 places. The place with the largest number of officials is Edirne, with 4.

Officials
16
Years on recordAH 1318 to 1325, 7 years with an entry
1900 to 1908
Median monthly salary1.6× the collection median of the same years (500 kuruş)
800 kuruş
Places with officials
9
First job title on recordfor 0 of the 16 officials
0%

Profile of the group: Postal service and dispatch

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

The public post of the Ottoman state, founded with the Ministry of Post in 1840 and joined with the telegraph in 1871. Post offices took in, carried and delivered letters, printed matter, registered letters and valuables.

Tools and technology

  • the old overland roads, steamers of the state and of foreign companies, and later the railways
  • postage stamps from 1862

History

Before 1840 official messages were carried by couriers between relay stations (menzil) kept by local contracted postmasters (menzilci); the relay system ended when the post was organised in 1839 and 1840. The empire joined the Universal Postal Union in 1874. The postal guides list 1,033 post and telegraph offices in 1884 and 1,288 in 1892.

Sources

  1. Halaçoğlu, Yusuf (2004). Menzil (Osmanlı). TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, vol. 29, 159-161. Online copy (read 14 October 2026).Pages or part: 159-161. Used for: history.
  2. Koh, Choon Hwee (2021). The Ottoman postmaster: contractors, communication and early modern state formation. Past and Present 251, 113-152. Online copy.Pages or part: 113, 118-120. Used for: history.
  3. 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: iii, 20-25, 66, 77. Used for: summary, tools and technology, history.
  4. 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: summary.
All years

Monthly salary each year

The median of the 28 recorded monthly salaries is 800 kuruş, the mean 762 kuruş.
02004006008001,0001900/01AH 13181901/02AH 13191902/03AH 13201903/04AH 13211904/05AH 13221905/06AH 13231906/07AH 13241907/08AH 1325Median 737.5 kuruş in 1901/02Mandapost Memuru, median of years with 5 or more salariesMean of the same yearsWhole collectionFewer than 5 salaries, not joined to the line

The same numbers as a table
Monthly salary each year in kuruş, Mandapost Memuru
YearRecorded salariesMedianMeanLower quartileUpper quartileMedian of the whole collection
1900/016800833.33800950500
1901/0210737.5689.9600800500
1902/033800766.67700850500
1903/043800766.67700850475
1904/052850850825875450
1905/063800775692.5870475
1907/081800800800800300

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
6%50%38%6%01002003004005007501,0001,5002,500

16 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 (50%) are in the band 500 to 750 kuruş.

The same numbers as a table
Officials of Mandapost Memuru by median monthly salary
Median monthly salary, kuruşOfficialsShareWhole collection
0 to 10000%3%
100 to 20000%10%
200 to 30000%17%
300 to 40016%18%
400 to 50000%17%
500 to 750850%23%
750 to 1,000638%5%
1,000 to 1,50016%4%
1,500 to 2,50000%2%
2,500 and more00%1%

The median of the 28 recorded monthly salaries of this job is 800 kuruş. In the same years the whole collection paid a median of 500 kuruş. The median entry paid 1.6× the collection median of its year, and the middle half of the entries between 1.26× and 1.8×. On average an official of this job was paid more than 77% of the other paid officials of the same year.

Times the collection median1.6×0.25×0.5×1×2×4×Share of paid officials earning less77%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 Other place Office or region
EdirneBitola (Manastır)BursaIstanbul (Dersaadet)Izmir (İzmir)KosovaThessaloniki (Selanik)Trabzon4 officials1 official

All 9 places, all years
PlaceOfficialsRemark
Edirne4
Bitola (Manastır)2
Bursa2
Istanbul (Dersaadet)2
Izmir (İzmir)2
Kosova2
Thessaloniki (Selanik)2
Galata1
Trabzon1

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 Mandapost Memuru. Pay: the change on moving from that title to Mandapost Memuru. The 8 titles with most officials, of 15 moves in all.

  1. Muhabere Memurucommunications official (telegraph operator)6pay +240 kuruş (+46%)
  2. 2. Müdürdirector of the second grade2
  3. İttihat Posta Memuruofficial of the union (international) post2
  4. 1. Müdürdirector of the first grade1
  5. 3. Müdürdirector of the third grade1
  6. Başmüdür Kitabeticlerkship of the chief director's office1
  7. Muhaberat-ı Ecnebiye Memuriyetipost of official for foreign communications1
  8. Seyyar Memurtravelling postal official1

Held just after

The title of the entries just after a run of Mandapost Memuru. Pay: the change on moving from Mandapost Memuru to that title. The 8 titles with most officials, of 11 moves in all.

  1. 3. Müdürdirector of the third grade2
  2. Başmemurchief official1
  3. Havalename Kalemimoney order office1
  4. Kontrol Kalemi Mudur Muavini1
  5. Mevrude Basmemuru1
  6. Muhaberat-ı Ecnebiye Memuriyetipost of official for foreign communications1
  7. Muhabere Memurucommunications official (telegraph operator)1
  8. Mukayyitregistry clerk1

Of the 24 moves shown, 2 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 16 officials
A quarter of the officials
2 years or moreupper quartile
Most years of one official
6 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 it31%5 officials
  3. No other job titlein the whole record0%0 officials
  4. One place in the jobof 16 officials with a place recorded88%14 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

16 officials with it recorded.

  1. Muslim (Müslüman)94%15
  2. Armenian Christian (Ermeni)6%1

Age at the first annual entry in the job

16 officials with it recorded.

  1. under 150%0
  2. 15 to 190%0
  3. 20 to 246%1
  4. 25 to 2938%6
  5. 30 to 3419%3
  6. 35 to 3913%2
  7. 40 and over25%4

Province of birth

15 officials with it recorded.

  1. Istanbul (Dersaadet) province40%6
  2. Danube (Tuna) province20%3
  3. Trabzon province13%2
  4. Ankara province7%1
  5. Archipelago (Cezayir-i Bahr-i Sefid) province7%1
  6. Hüdavendigâr province7%1
  7. Sivas province7%1

Schooling

16 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. Rüşdiye50%8
  2. Higher or professional44%7
  3. Darüşşafaka38%6
  4. Community school6%1
  5. Primary6%1

Languages

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

  1. Turkish100%15
  2. French47%7
  3. Greek (Rum)27%4

Qualification

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

  1. No50%8
  2. Yes50%8

Officials on record each year

The fullest year is 1901/02 (AH 1319) with 10 officials. Years with an annual entry: 7.
02468101900/01AH 13181901/02AH 13191902/03AH 13201903/04AH 13211904/05AH 13221905/06AH 13231906/07AH 13241907/08AH 132510 in 1901/02Recorded in an earlier year tooFirst recorded in this year

The same numbers as a table
Officials on record each year, Mandapost Memuru
YearOfficials on recordFirst recordedAnnual entries
1900/01 (AH 1318)666
1901/02 (AH 1319)10610
1902/03 (AH 1320)313
1903/04 (AH 1321)313
1904/05 (AH 1322)202
1905/06 (AH 1323)313
1907/08 (AH 1325)111

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 Mandapost Memuru, the place with most officials first
PlaceProvinceOfficialsAnnual entriesYears
EdirneEdirne province441901 to 1904
Bitola (Manastır)Bitola (Manastır) province271900 to 1906
Istanbul (Dersaadet)Istanbul (Dersaadet) province231900 to 1902
BursaHüdavendigâr province221901/02
Izmir (İzmir)Aydın province221900 to 1906
KosovaKosovo (Kosova) province221900 to 1908
Thessaloniki (Selanik)Thessaloniki (Selanik) province221900 to 1902
GalataIstanbul (Dersaadet) province151901 to 1906
TrabzonTrabzon province111901/02

Ottoman officials recorded

16 officials, the one with most annual entries first.

Officials of Mandapost Memuru
OfficialYearsAnnual entriesKuruş a monthBirthplace
Ahmet Macit Efendi1900 to 19066800Beykoz
Süleyman Sırrı Efendi1901 to 19065900 to 940Sofia (Sofya)
İbrahim Edhem Efendi1900 to 19022800 to 1,000Mytilene (Midilli)
İsmail Hakkı Efendi1900 to 19022800Istanbul (Dersaadet)
Ahmet Mahmut Efendi1901/021675Istanbul (Dersaadet)
Ali Rıza Efendi1901/021600Istanbul (Dersaadet)
Hasan Fahri Efendi1900/011600Ankara
Hasan Kadri Efendi1901/021600Mora
Karakin Yaver Efendi1905/061585Istanbul (Dersaadet)
Mehmet Niyazi Efendi1901/021324Trabzon
Mustafa Asim Efendi1901/021600Trabzon
Mustafa Raif Efendi1903/041600Shumen (Şumnu)
Mustafa Şükrü Efendi1900/0111,000Karacabey (Mihaliç)
Süleyman Sadık Efendi1902/031600Balchik (Balçık)
Unnamed official (0067_0232 sayfa no:461)1900 to 19022800Istanbul (Dersaadet)
Unnamed official (111_67; 131)1907/081800Turhal

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