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

Job title

Sevk Basmemuru

Group of job titles: Postal service and dispatch

2 officials held the job title Sevk Basmemuru. Its 23 annual entries run from 1871 to 1906 (AH 1288 to 1323). The median of the 23 recorded monthly salaries is 2,000 kuruş, against 500 kuruş for the whole collection in the same years. The entries name 2 places. The place with the largest number of officials is Istanbul, with 1.

Officials
2
Years on recordAH 1288 to 1323, 23 years with an entry
1871 to 1906
Median monthly salaryfrom 23 recorded salaries
2,000 kuruş
Places with officials
2

Profile of the group: Postal service and dispatch

No source read describes Sevk 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 23 recorded monthly salaries is 2,000 kuruş, the mean 1,896 kuruş.
05001,0001,5002,0002,5001871/72AH 12881873/74AH 12901875/76AH 12921877/78AH 12941878/79AH 12961880/81AH 12981882/83AH 13001884/85AH 13021886/87AH 13041888/89AH 13061890/91AH 13081892/93AH 13101894/95AH 13121896/97AH 13141898/99AH 13161900/01AH 13181902/03AH 13201904/05AH 13221,100 kuruş in 1905/06Sevk Basmemuru, fewer than 5 salaries in every year

The same numbers as a table
Monthly salary each year in kuruş, Sevk Basmemuru
YearRecorded salariesMedianMeanLower quartileUpper quartileMedian of the whole collection
1871/7211,9001,9001,9001,900550
1872/7312,4002,4002,4002,400550
1873/7412,4002,4002,4002,400500
1874/7512,4002,4002,4002,400535
1875/7612,4002,4002,4002,400530
1876/7712,5002,5002,5002,500575
1877/7812,5002,5002,5002,500560
187812,5002,5002,5002,500600
1878/7912,5002,5002,5002,500600
1879/8012,0002,0002,0002,000500
1880/8112,0002,0002,0002,000500
1881/8212,0002,0002,0002,000500
1882/8312,0002,0002,0002,000500
1883/8412,0002,0002,0002,000500
1884/8512,0002,0002,0002,000500
1885/8612,0002,0002,0002,000500
1886/8712,0002,0002,0002,000500
1900/0111,0001,0001,0001,000500
1901/0211,0001,0001,0001,000500
1902/0311,0001,0001,0001,000500
1903/0411,0001,0001,0001,000475
1904/0511,0001,0001,0001,000450
1905/0611,1001,1001,1001,100475

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

Places of Sevk Basmemuru, the place with most officials first
PlaceProvinceOfficialsAnnual entriesYears
Istanbul (Dersaadet)Istanbul (Dersaadet) province1171871 to 1887
Yeni camii postanesiIstanbul (Dersaadet) province161900 to 1906

Ottoman officials recorded

2 officials, the one with most annual entries first.

Officials of Sevk Basmemuru
OfficialYearsAnnual entriesKuruş a monthBirthplace
Osman Nuri Efendi1871 to 1887171,900 to 2,500Istanbul (Dersaadet)
Mehmet Faik Bey1900 to 190661,000 to 1,100Istanbul (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