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Ottoman BureaucracyPeople, places and careers in Ottoman public service

Job title

Posta Basmemuru

Group of job titles: Postal service and dispatch

2 officials held the job title Posta Basmemuru. Its 2 annual entries fall in 1905/06 (AH 1323). The median of the 2 recorded monthly salaries is 715 kuruş, against 475 kuruş for the whole collection in the same years. The entries name 2 places. The place with the largest number of officials is Thessaloniki (Selanik), with 1.

Officials
2
Years on recordAH 1323, 1 year with an entry
1905/06
Median monthly salaryfrom 2 recorded salaries
715 kuruş
Places with officials
2

Profile of the group: Postal service and dispatch

No source read describes Posta 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.

Places

Places of Posta Basmemuru, the place with most officials first
PlaceProvinceOfficialsAnnual entriesYears
GalataIstanbul (Dersaadet) province111905/06
Thessaloniki (Selanik)Thessaloniki (Selanik) province111905/06

Ottoman officials recorded

2 officials, the one with most annual entries first.

Officials of Posta Basmemuru
OfficialYearsAnnual entriesKuruş a monthBirthplace
Mustafa Asım Efendi1905/061530Istanbul (Dersaadet)
Naum Salaho Efendi1905/061900Mosul (Musul)

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