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Ottoman BureaucracyPeople, places and careers in Ottoman public service

Job title

Mümeyyiz

Examining clerk

Group of job titles: Correspondence and registry

Stored spellings: Mumeyyiz; mumeyyiz

26 officials held the job title Mümeyyiz. Its 147 annual entries run from 1855 to 1911 (AH 1272 to 1329). The median of the 147 recorded monthly salaries is 1,200 kuruş, against 500 kuruş for the whole collection in the same years. The median entry paid 2.4 times the collection median of its year. On average an official was paid more than 82 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 4 different years, and a quarter in 6 or more. It was the first title on record for 12 per cent of the officials and the last for 35 per cent. No other title is recorded for 4 per cent of them. The entries name 10 places. The place with the largest number of officials is Istanbul, with 18.

Officials
26
Years on recordAH 1272 to 1329, 42 years with an entry
1855 to 1911
Median monthly salary2.4× the collection median of the same years (500 kuruş)
1,200 kuruş
Places with officials
10
First job title on recordfor 3 of the 26 officials
12%

Profile of the group: Correspondence and registry

No source read describes Mümeyyiz 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

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
All years

Monthly salary each year

The median of the 147 recorded monthly salaries is 1,200 kuruş, the mean 1,157 kuruş.
05001,0001,5001858/59AH 12751863/64AH 12801868/69AH 12851873/74AH 12901878AH 12951882/83AH 13001887/88AH 13051892/93AH 13101897/98AH 13151902/03AH 13201907/08AH 1325Median 1,100 kuruş in 1906/07Mümeyyiz, median of years with 5 or more salariesMean of the same yearsWhole collectionFewer than 5 salaries, not joined to the lineAbove the scale

The same numbers as a table
Monthly salary each year in kuruş, Mümeyyiz
YearRecorded salariesMedianMeanLower quartileUpper quartileMedian of the whole collection
1855/561750750750750450
1856/571750750750750375
1857/581750750750750475
1858/591750750750750500
1860/611750750750750500
1872/73125252525550
1873/74125252525500
1875/7611,5001,5001,5001,500530
1876/7711,5501,5501,5501,550575
1877/7821,487.51,487.51,456.251,518.75560
187821,4751,4751,437.51,512.5600
1878/791850850850850600
1879/801850850850850500
1883/8411,5001,5001,5001,500500
1884/8511,5001,5001,5001,500500
1885/8611,5001,5001,5001,500500
1886/8711,5001,5001,5001,500500
1887/8811,7001,7001,7001,700500
1888/8931,3751,291.671,087.51,537.5500
1889/9039501,041.678751,162.5500
1890/9141,0751,056.25887.51,243.75500
1891/9251,3001,1759501,350500
1892/9361,1751,087.51,0501,356.25500
1893/9471,1009505001,350500
1894/9541,000887.56251,262.5500
1895/9661,090988.33757.51,287.5500
1896/977837939.715881,145500
1897/986978.51,079.5715.51,157.5500
1898/996978.51,100.33809.251,157.5500
1899/190071,0001,022.147751,210500
1900/0171,2001,274.291,0851,275500
1901/0281,2251,256.251,0001,300500
1902/0381,1001,136.25947.51,262.5500
1903/0481,1001,136.25947.51,262.5475
1904/0561,1001,236.67887.51,275450
1905/0661,1001,2259251,275475
1906/0761,1001,220.839251,256.25450
1907/0831,3751,608.331,287.51,812.5300
1908/0931,3751,608.331,287.51,812.5350
1909/1041,5001,6251,5001,625462.5
1910/1121,5001,5001,5001,500500
191121,5001,5001,5001,500500

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
8%8%4%4%23%38%15%01002003004005007501,0001,5002,500

26 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 (38%) are in the band 1,000 to 1,500 kuruş.

The same numbers as a table
Officials of Mümeyyiz by median monthly salary
Median monthly salary, kuruşOfficialsShareWhole collection
0 to 10028%3%
100 to 20000%10%
200 to 30028%17%
300 to 40014%18%
400 to 50000%17%
500 to 75014%23%
750 to 1,000623%5%
1,000 to 1,5001038%4%
1,500 to 2,500415%2%
2,500 and more00%1%

The median of the 147 recorded monthly salaries of this job is 1,200 kuruş. In the same years the whole collection paid a median of 500 kuruş. The median entry paid 2.4× the collection median of its year, and the middle half of the entries between 1.67× and 2.82×. On average an official of this job was paid more than 82% of the other paid officials of the same year.

Times the collection median2.4×0.25×0.5×1×2×4×Share of paid officials earning less82%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
10 places with officials on record, 10 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
Istanbul (Dersaadet)Afyonkarahisar (Karahisar-ı Sahib)AnkaraBilecikBursaRuse (Rusçuk)Skopje (Üsküp)Trabzon18 officials1 official

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 Mümeyyiz. Pay: the change on moving from that title to Mümeyyiz. The 8 titles with most officials, of 23 moves in all.

  1. Muhasebe Kalemiaccounts office2
  2. Musevvit Kalemi2
  3. Sicil Kalemiregister office2
  4. 2. Müdürdirector of the second grade1
  5. Başmemurchief official1
  6. Basmufettis Baskitabeti1
  7. Ceza Dairesi Memuru1
  8. Evrak Kalemidocuments office1

Held just after

The title of the entries just after a run of Mümeyyiz. Pay: the change on moving from Mümeyyiz to that title. The 8 titles with most officials, of 17 moves in all.

  1. Basmumeyyiz1
  2. Bidayet Mahkemesi Muaviniassistant at a court of first instance1
  3. Defter-i Hakani KalemiLand Registry office1
  4. Istatistik Kalemi Muduru1
  5. Istinaf Mahkemesi1
  6. Memurin Kalemi Muduru1
  7. Merkez Memurucentral office official1
  8. Mesalihi Kalemi1

Of the 19 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
4.5 yearsmedian over 26 officials
A quarter of the officials
6 years or moreupper quartile
Most years of one official
17 years
  1. First job title on recordthe first year with an entry with a job title has it12%3 officials
  2. Last job title on recordthe last such year has it35%9 officials
  3. No other job titlein the whole record4%1 official
  4. One place in the jobof 26 officials with a place recorded96%25 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

26 officials with it recorded.

  1. Muslim (Müslüman)96%25
  2. Latin Catholic (Latin)4%1

Age at the first annual entry in the job

26 officials with it recorded.

  1. under 150%0
  2. 15 to 194%1
  3. 20 to 248%2
  4. 25 to 2931%8
  5. 30 to 3419%5
  6. 35 to 3912%3
  7. 40 and over27%7

Province of birth

26 officials with it recorded. 3 other values not shown.

  1. Istanbul (Dersaadet) province50%13
  2. Aydın province8%2
  3. Danube (Tuna) province8%2
  4. Eastern Rumelia (Rumeli-i Şarkî) province8%2
  5. Ankara province4%1
  6. Archipelago (Cezayir-i Bahr-i Sefid) province4%1
  7. Kosovo (Kosova) province4%1
  8. Mamuretülaziz province4%1

Schooling

26 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. Rüşdiye58%15
  2. Primary23%6
  3. Other named school8%2
  4. Religious school (medrese)8%2
  5. Higher or professional4%1
  6. İdadi4%1

Languages

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

  1. Turkish100%26
  2. Arabic12%3
  3. French12%3
  4. Greek (Rum)12%3
  5. Persian8%2
  6. Albanian4%1
  7. Bulgarian4%1
  8. Italian4%1

Qualification

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

  1. No69%18
  2. Yes31%8

Officials on record each year

The fullest year is 1901/02 (AH 1319) with 8 officials. Years with an annual entry: 42.
024681858/59AH 12751863/64AH 12801868/69AH 12851873/74AH 12901878AH 12951882/83AH 13001887/88AH 13051892/93AH 13101897/98AH 13151902/03AH 13201907/08AH 13258 in 1901/02Recorded in an earlier year tooFirst recorded in this year

The same numbers as a table
Officials on record each year, Mümeyyiz
YearOfficials on recordFirst recordedAnnual entries
1855/56 (AH 1272)111
1856/57 (AH 1273)101
1857/58 (AH 1274)101
1858/59 (AH 1275)101
1860/61 (AH 1277)101
1872/73 (AH 1289)111
1873/74 (AH 1290)101
1875/76 (AH 1292)111
1876/77 (AH 1293)101
1877/78 (AH 1294)212
1878 (AH 1295)212
1878/79 (AH 1296)111
1879/80 (AH 1297)101
1883/84 (AH 1301)111
1884/85 (AH 1302)101
1885/86 (AH 1303)101
1886/87 (AH 1304)101
1887/88 (AH 1305)101
1888/89 (AH 1306)323
1889/90 (AH 1307)313
1890/91 (AH 1308)414
1891/92 (AH 1309)515
1892/93 (AH 1310)616
1893/94 (AH 1311)727
1894/95 (AH 1312)404
1895/96 (AH 1313)626
1896/97 (AH 1314)717
1897/98 (AH 1315)606
1898/99 (AH 1316)606
1899/1900 (AH 1317)717
1900/01 (AH 1318)717
1901/02 (AH 1319)818
1902/03 (AH 1320)818
1903/04 (AH 1321)808
1904/05 (AH 1322)616
1905/06 (AH 1323)616
1906/07 (AH 1324)616
1907/08 (AH 1325)303
1908/09 (AH 1326)303
1909/10 (AH 1327)414
1910/11 (AH 1328)202
1911 (AH 1329)202

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 Mümeyyiz, the place with most officials first
PlaceProvinceOfficialsAnnual entriesYears
Istanbul (Dersaadet)Istanbul (Dersaadet) province181151877 to 1911
BeyoğluIstanbul (Dersaadet) province261875 to 1880
Ruse (Rusçuk)Danube (Tuna) province1111891 to 1902
TrabzonTrabzon province151889 to 1894
BilecikHüdavendigâr province131857 to 1861
Skopje (Üsküp)Kosovo (Kosova) province121872 to 1874
VanVan province121902 to 1904
Afyonkarahisar (Karahisar-ı Sahib)Hüdavendigâr province111855/56
AnkaraAnkara province111899/1900
BursaHüdavendigâr province111856/57

Ottoman officials recorded

26 officials, the one with most annual entries first. The first 25 are shown, the others are under them.

Show the other 1 official
Officials of Mümeyyiz, continued
OfficialYearsAnnual entriesKuruş a monthBirthplace
Mehmet Mesud Efendi1899/1900185Ankara

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