Skip to content
Ottoman BureaucracyPeople, places and careers in Ottoman public service

Job title

Mevrude Basmemuru

Group of job titles: Postal service and dispatch

Stored spellings: Mevrude Basmemuru; mevrude basmemuru

9 officials held the job title Mevrude Basmemuru. Its 30 annual entries run from 1888 to 1910 (AH 1306 to 1327). The median of the 30 recorded monthly salaries is 1,350 kuruş, against 500 kuruş for the whole collection in the same years. The median entry paid 2.7 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 2 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 56 per cent. The entries name 4 places. The place with the largest number of officials is Istanbul, with 5.

Officials
9
Years on recordAH 1306 to 1327, 16 years with an entry
1888 to 1910
Median monthly salary2.7× the collection median of the same years (500 kuruş)
1,350 kuruş
Places with officials
4
First job title on recordfor 0 of the 9 officials
0%

Profile of the group: Postal service and dispatch

No source read describes Mevrude Basmemuru 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 30 recorded monthly salaries is 1,350 kuruş, the mean 1,227 kuruş.
05001,0001,5002,0001888/89AH 13061890/91AH 13081892/93AH 13101894/95AH 13121896/97AH 13141898/99AH 13161900/01AH 13181902/03AH 13201904/05AH 13221906/07AH 13241908/09AH 13261,300 kuruş in 1909/10Mevrude Basmemuru, fewer than 5 salaries in every year

The same numbers as a table
Monthly salary each year in kuruş, Mevrude Basmemuru
YearRecorded salariesMedianMeanLower quartileUpper quartileMedian of the whole collection
1888/8941,2001,0501,0001,250500
1889/9041,3501,1251,112.51,362.5500
1890/9131,3501,4001,3501,425500
1891/9221,4251,4251,387.51,462.5500
1892/9321,5501,5501,5251,575500
1893/9421,5501,5501,5251,575500
1894/9521,5501,5501,5251,575500
1895/9621,4351,4351,1851,685500
1896/9721,240.51,240.5990.751,490.25500
1897/981741741741741500
1898/991741741741741500
1899/19001741741741741500
1900/0111,0801,0801,0801,080500
1902/031800800800800500
1905/0611,0001,0001,0001,000475
1909/1011,3001,3001,3001,300462.5

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
11%11%11%56%11%01002003004005007501,0001,5002,500

9 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 (56%) are in the band 1,000 to 1,500 kuruş.

The same numbers as a table
Officials of Mevrude Basmemuru 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 500111%17%
500 to 750111%23%
750 to 1,000111%5%
1,000 to 1,500556%4%
1,500 to 2,500111%2%
2,500 and more00%1%

The median of the 30 recorded monthly salaries of this job is 1,350 kuruş. In the same years the whole collection paid a median of 500 kuruş. The median entry paid 2.7× the collection median of its year, and the middle half of the entries between 1.93× and 3×. On average an official of this job was paid more than 86% of the other paid officials of the same year.

Times the collection median2.7×0.25×0.5×1×2×4×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) Seat of a sancak Other place Office or region
Istanbul (Dersaadet)GalataIzmir (İzmir)5 officials1 official

All 4 places, all years
PlaceOfficialsRemark
Istanbul (Dersaadet)5
Galata2
Izmir (İzmir)1
Yeni camii postanesi1

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 Mevrude Basmemuru. Pay: the change on moving from that title to Mevrude Basmemuru. The 8 titles with most officials, of 9 moves in all.

  1. Mevrude Memuruofficial for incoming items2
  2. Başmuhabere Memuruchief communications official1
  3. Kitabet Memuru1
  4. Mandapost Memuru1
  5. Meclis Kitabeticouncil clerkship1
  6. Mersule Memuruofficial for outgoing items1
  7. Müfettişinspector1
  8. Pul Basmemuru1

Held just after

The title of the entries just after a run of Mevrude Basmemuru. Pay: the change on moving from Mevrude Basmemuru to that title. The 3 titles with most officials, of 4 moves in all.

  1. Pul Basmemuru2
  2. Müdürdirector1
  3. Müdür Muaviniassistant director1

Of the 13 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
2 yearsmedian over 9 officials
A quarter of the officials
6 years or moreupper quartile
Most years of one official
7 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 it56%5 officials
  3. No other job titlein the whole record0%0 officials
  4. One place in the jobof 9 officials with a place recorded100%9 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

9 officials with it recorded.

  1. Muslim (Müslüman)78%7
  2. Armenian Christian (Ermeni)22%2

Age at the first annual entry in the job

9 officials with it recorded.

  1. under 150%0
  2. 15 to 190%0
  3. 20 to 240%0
  4. 25 to 2911%1
  5. 30 to 3422%2
  6. 35 to 3933%3
  7. 40 and over33%3

Province of birth

9 officials with it recorded.

  1. Ankara province33%3
  2. Istanbul (Dersaadet) province33%3
  3. Archipelago (Cezayir-i Bahr-i Sefid) province22%2
  4. Hüdavendigâr province11%1

Schooling

9 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 professional44%4
  2. Darüşşafaka33%3
  3. Rüşdiye33%3
  4. Community school22%2
  5. Primary11%1

Languages

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

  1. Turkish100%9
  2. French56%5
  3. Arabic22%2
  4. Armenian22%2
  5. Greek (Rum)11%1
  6. Persian11%1

Qualification

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

  1. Yes67%6
  2. No33%3

Officials on record each year

The fullest year is 1888/89 (AH 1306) with 4 officials. Years with an annual entry: 16.
012341888/89AH 13061890/91AH 13081892/93AH 13101894/95AH 13121896/97AH 13141898/99AH 13161900/01AH 13181902/03AH 13201904/05AH 13221906/07AH 13241908/09AH 13264 in 1888/89Recorded in an earlier year tooFirst recorded in this year

The same numbers as a table
Officials on record each year, Mevrude Basmemuru
YearOfficials on recordFirst recordedAnnual entries
1888/89 (AH 1306)444
1889/90 (AH 1307)404
1890/91 (AH 1308)313
1891/92 (AH 1309)202
1892/93 (AH 1310)202
1893/94 (AH 1311)202
1894/95 (AH 1312)202
1895/96 (AH 1313)212
1896/97 (AH 1314)202
1897/98 (AH 1315)101
1898/99 (AH 1316)101
1899/1900 (AH 1317)101
1900/01 (AH 1318)101
1902/03 (AH 1320)111
1905/06 (AH 1323)111
1909/10 (AH 1327)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 Mevrude Basmemuru, the place with most officials first
PlaceProvinceOfficialsAnnual entriesYears
Istanbul (Dersaadet)Istanbul (Dersaadet) province5181888 to 1906
GalataIstanbul (Dersaadet) province2101888 to 1895
Izmir (İzmir)Aydın province111902/03
Yeni camii postanesiIstanbul (Dersaadet) province111909/10

Ottoman officials recorded

9 officials, the one with most annual entries first.

Officials of Mevrude Basmemuru
OfficialYearsAnnual entriesKuruş a monthBirthplace
Andon Efendi1888 to 189571,200 to 1,600Ankara
Hüseyin Hasan Efendi1890 to 189771,500 to 1,935Istanbul (Dersaadet)
Hacı Mustafa Nuri Efendi1895 to 19016741 to 1,080Bilecik
Andon Efendi1888 to 189131,200 to 1,350Ankara
İsmail Hakı Bey1888 to 189021,400Mytilene (Midilli)
İsmail Hakkı Bey1888 to 18902400Mytilene (Midilli)
Ahmet Bahaattin Efendi1909/1011,300Istanbul (Dersaadet)
Ahmet Mahmut Efendi1902/031800Istanbul (Dersaadet)
Mehmet Celalettin Fikri Efendi1905/0611,000Beypazarı

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