Official
Mehmet Ali Efendi
Muslim (Müslüman). Born in Istanbul (Dersaadet) in 1878/79 (AH 1296). On record 1897 to 1903, 6 annual entries.
Archive reference 114_103; 201
Life#
Born in Istanbul in 1878/79 (AH 1296) into the Muslim (Müslüman) community, Mehmet Ali Efendi was the child of a tradesman (esnaf). Schooling took seven years, at a middle school (Rüşdiye Mektebi); Mehmet Ali also held a qualification (a diploma, certificate, training or decoration).
Work began in Istanbul in 1895/96, at about 16, with two unpaid years as a mülazım (apprentice) before a first salary of 30 kuruş. The annual lists begin in 1897/98, with Mehmet Ali as an official for outgoing items (Mersule Memuru) in Istanbul, the birthplace, where the entries run to 1899/1900. The last posts were in Izmir (İzmir) from 1900 to 1903, with a rise to travelling postal official (Seyyar Memur).
Pay rose from 30 kuruş a month in 1897/98 to a peak of 500 in 1902/03, as Seyyar Memur in Izmir, when half the paid officials earned less. In all, six years of salary come to 16,320 kuruş, 45 per cent of what an official on the median salary earned in those years. The final annual entry is for 1902/03.
Places in order of time#
Each number is a stop: the birthplace, the place of first work, then every place of the annual entries in turn. The year beside an arrow is the first entry at the new place.
Born 1878/79 (AH 1296); First work 1895/96 (AH 1313); 1897 to 1900 (AH 1315 to 1317)
30 to 100 kuruş a month; entries in 3 years
Career and salary#
Log scale: equal steps are equal ratios. The median of the same title is drawn for the years in which at least 5 officials with that title had a salary.
The numbers of the chart
| Year | Salary | Median, all officials | Median, same title | Paid less |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1897/98 | 30 | 500 | 135 | 0% |
| 1898/99 | 30 | 500 | 170 | 0% |
| 1899/1900 | 100 | 500 | 200 | 0% |
| 1900/01 | 350 | 500 | 600 | 25% |
| 1901/02 | 350 | 500 | 600 | 27% |
| 1902/03 | 500 | 500 | 600 | 49% |
Paid less: the share of the other officials with a salary that year who earned less.
Point at a year for its salary, title, place and the median of all officials paid that year. Choose a row of the table to mark its years in the charts and its stop on the map.
| Years | Title | Place | Salary (kuruş a month) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1895/96AH 1313 | First work | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 30first-salary field |
| 1897 to 1900AH 1315 to 1317 | Mersule Memuru | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 30 to 100 |
| 1900 to 1903AH 1318 to 1320 | Seyyar Memur | Izmir (İzmir) | 350 to 500 |
Record#
Personal
- Born
- 1878/79 (AH 1296)
- Birthplace
- Istanbul (Dersaadet)
- Community
- Muslim (Müslüman)
- Nationality as recorded
- Turkish
- Father's occupation
- Esnaf
Education
- Rüşdiye
- Rüşdiye Mektebi (7 years)rüşdiye school (middle school)
- Unpaid years (mülazemet)
- 2 years
- Preparation route (classification of the paper)
- Middle
- Qualification (diploma, certificate, training or nişan)
- Yes
The years count all schooling up to that school, as the record gives them.
Languages
- Turkish
- Kitabetwriting
The glosses are cautious historical readings of the recorded words, not modern levels of proficiency.
First work
- Year
- 1895/96 (AH 1313)
- Place
- Istanbul (Dersaadet)
- First salary field (kuruş a month)
- 30
Recorded with#
Officials who share a place, a job title, a school, a birthplace or the year of the first annual entry. Ranks compare the highest monthly salary of each official.
Same place, same years
Of the 669 officials with entries in Istanbul in the same years, Mehmet Ali Efendi had the 392nd highest salary.
- Hüseyin Hasip Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 20,000 kuruş
- Salahattin Bey3 shared years; highest salary 7,800 kuruş
- Suleyman Resat Bey3 shared years; highest salary 7,000 kuruş
- Mahmut Bedri Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 6,040 kuruş
- Mehmet Hayri Bey3 shared years; highest salary 5,500 kuruş
Same job title, same years
Of the 39 officials with the title Mersule Memuru in the same years, Mehmet Ali Efendi had the 13th highest salary.
- Abdurrahman Şakir Bey3 shared years; highest salary 1,500 kuruş
- Halil Vehbi Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 540 kuruş
- Unnamed official (58_0003;3)3 shared years; highest salary 500 kuruş
- Mehmet İsmail Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 450 kuruş
- Halil Rasih Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 400 kuruş
Same school
Of the 3,206 officials with Rüşdiye Mektebi among their schools, 3,200 have a recorded salary; Mehmet Ali Efendi had the 1,253rd highest salary of them.
- Abdülcabbar Efendiborn 1878/79 (AH 1296); highest salary 350 kuruş
- Abdülkadir Zihni Efendiborn 1878/79 (AH 1296); highest salary 300 kuruş
- Abdullah Vahdi Efendiborn 1878/79 (AH 1296); highest salary 500 kuruş
- Ahmed Refik Efendiborn 1878/79 (AH 1296); highest salary 350 kuruş
- Ahmet Celalettin Efendiborn 1878/79 (AH 1296); highest salary 700 kuruş
Same birthplace
Of the 1,999 officials born in Istanbul, 1,997 have a recorded salary; Mehmet Ali Efendi had the 986th highest salary of them.
- Ahmed Refik Efendiborn 1878/79 (AH 1296); highest salary 350 kuruş
- Ahmet Bahaettin Efendiborn 1878/79 (AH 1296); highest salary 150 kuruş
- Ahmet Halit Efendiborn 1878/79 (AH 1296); highest salary 600 kuruş
- Ahmet Hulusi Efendiborn 1878/79 (AH 1296); highest salary 380 kuruş
- AHMET KEMAL EFENDİborn 1878/79 (AH 1296); highest salary 290 kuruş
First annual entry in the same year
Of the 88 officials whose first annual entry is for 1897/98 (AH 1315), Mehmet Ali Efendi had the 26th highest salary.
- Hasan Şevki Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 200 kuruş
- Mahmut Nedim Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 200 kuruş
- Mehmet Hamit Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 210 kuruş
- Mehmet Şükrü Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 400 kuruş
- Abdulgafur Hamit Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 1,500 kuruş
Full record
Annual entries (6)
| Year | Title | Place | Kuruş a month | Institution | Source | Archive reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1897/98AH 1315 | Mersule Memuru | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 30 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 114_103; 201 |
| 1898/99AH 1316 | Mersule Memuru | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 30 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 114_103; 201 |
| 1899/1900AH 1317 | Mersule Memuru | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 100 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 114_103; 201 |
| 1900/01AH 1318 | Seyyar Memur | Izmir (İzmir) | 350 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 114_103; 201 |
| 1901/02AH 1319 | Seyyar Memur | Izmir (İzmir) | 350 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 114_103; 201 |
| 1902/03AH 1320 | Seyyar Memur | Izmir (İzmir) | 500 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 114_103; 201 |
What the sources named in this table are
- Recovered annual personnel extract
- The merged annual personnel file recovered for the replication of the first paper. Annual entries are taken from it for every official it holds.
Sources and original values (14)
| Field | Recorded value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | ||
| Name | Mehmet Ali Efendi | Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Birth year (AH) | 1296 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Birthplace | dersaadet | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Province of birth | dersaadet | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Father's occupation | esnaf | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Religion | Musluman | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Nationality or community | Turkish | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Schooling | ||
| School | Rusdiye Mektebi | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Years of schooling | 7 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Years of apprenticeship (mülazemet) | 2 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| First work | ||
| First work: year (AH) | 1313 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| First work: Gregorian year as stored | 1895 | Recovered annual personnel extract |
| First work: place | istanbul | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| First salary field (kuruş a month) | 30 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
What the sources named in this table are
- Earlier annual personnel extract
- The detailed annual personnel file of October 2024. An official found only in this file keeps the years, titles and salaries it gives.
- Recovered annual personnel extract
- The merged annual personnel file recovered for the replication of the first paper. Annual entries are taken from it for every official it holds.
- Personnel attributes extract
- The detailed personnel file of September 2025, read for personal details such as birth, schooling and first work.
- Origin of the record: Post and Telegraph personnel records.
- 6 annual entries of 6 belong to the saved estimation sample of the paper.
How to read this record: calendar years, years without an annual entry, salaries and sources.
Subjects
- Mehmet Ali Efendi
- Official for outgoing items (Mersule Memuru)
- Istanbul (Dersaadet)
- Rüşdiye school (Rüşdiye Mektebi)
- Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf)
- Muslim (Müslüman)
- Travelling postal official (Seyyar Memur)
- Biography of an Ottoman official (Osmanlı memurunun biyografisi)
- Career and pay (memuriyet ve maaş)
- Ottoman history (Osmanlı tarihi)
- Ottoman bureaucracy (Osmanlı bürokrasisi)
- Ottoman officials (Osmanlı'da memurlar)
- Ottoman personnel registers (Sicill-i Ahvâl defterleri)
- Ottoman registers (Osmanlı defterleri)