Official
Mehmet Cevat Bey
Muslim (Müslüman). Born in Istanbul (Dersaadet) in 1886/87 (AH 1304). On record 1906 to 1910, 4 annual entries.
Archive reference 147-160-315
Life#
Born in Istanbul in 1886/87 (AH 1304), Mehmet Cevat Bey came from the Muslim (Müslüman) community; the father was a gendarme (jandarma). Schooling took seven years, at a middle school (Rüşdiye Mektebi); Mehmet Cevat also wrote Arabic, French and Turkish.
Work began in Istanbul in 1903/04, at about 16, with three unpaid years as a mülazım (apprentice) before a first salary of 50 kuruş. Every annual entry from 1906/07 to 1909/10 places Mehmet Cevat in the same office, money order office (Havalename Kalemi), in Istanbul, the birthplace.
The salary went from 200 kuruş a month in 1906/07 to 400 in 1909/10, the peak, in the Havalename Kalemi in Istanbul, when one in three paid officials earned less. In all, four years of salary come to 12,000 kuruş, 64 per cent of what an official on the median salary earned in those years. The final annual entry is for 1909/10.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1906/07 | 200 | 450 | 362.5 | 10% |
| 1907/08 | 200 | 300 | 100 | 18% |
| 1908/09 | 200 | 350 | 16% | |
| 1909/10 | 400 | 462.5 | 33% |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1903/04AH 1321 | First work | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 50first-salary field |
| 1906 to 1910AH 1324 to 1327 | Havalename Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 200 to 400 |
Record#
Personal
- Born
- 1886/87 (AH 1304)
- Birthplace
- Istanbul (Dersaadet)
- Community
- Muslim (Müslüman)
- Nationality as recorded
- Turkish
- Father's occupation
- Jandarma
Education
- Rüşdiye
- Rüşdiye Mektebi (7 years)rüşdiye school (middle school)
- Unpaid years (mülazemet)
- 3 years
- Preparation route (classification of the paper)
- Low
- Qualification (diploma, certificate, training or nişan)
- No
The years count all schooling up to that school, as the record gives them.
Languages
- Arabic
- Kitabetwriting
- French
- kitabetwriting
- Turkish
- Kitabetwriting
The glosses are cautious historical readings of the recorded words, not modern levels of proficiency.
First work
- Year
- 1903/04 (AH 1321)
- Place
- Istanbul (Dersaadet)
- First salary field (kuruş a month)
- 50
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 493 officials with entries in Istanbul in the same years, Mehmet Cevat Bey had the 228th highest salary.
- Abdurrahman Serafettin Efendi4 shared years; highest salary 25,000 kuruş
- Hasan Ferit Efendi4 shared years; highest salary 5,000 kuruş
- Mehmet Memduh Bey4 shared years; highest salary 5,000 kuruş
- Melkok Efendi4 shared years; highest salary 5,000 kuruş
- Mustafa İhsan Efendi4 shared years; highest salary 5,000 kuruş
Same job title, same years
Of the 21 officials with the title Havalename Kalemi in the same years, Mehmet Cevat Bey had the 9th highest salary.
- Yusuf Cemil Efendi4 shared years; highest salary 900 kuruş
- Ahmet Bahaattin Efendi2 shared years; highest salary 1,500 kuruş
- Ömer Necip Efendi2 shared years; highest salary 100 kuruş
- İsmail Hakkı Efendi2 shared years; highest salary 85 kuruş
- Mehmet Sait Efendi2 shared years; highest salary 30 kuruş
Same school
Of the 3,206 officials with Rüşdiye Mektebi among their schools, 3,200 have a recorded salary; Mehmet Cevat Bey had the 1,725th highest salary of them.
- Abdülhamid Hamdi Efendiborn 1886/87 (AH 1304); highest salary 250 kuruş
- Abdullah Nazım Efendiborn 1886/87 (AH 1304); highest salary 400 kuruş
- Ahmet Cemil Efendiborn 1886/87 (AH 1304); highest salary 100 kuruş
- Ahmet Fuat Efendiborn 1886/87 (AH 1304); highest salary 100 kuruş
- Ahmet Kenan Efendiborn 1886/87 (AH 1304); highest salary 100 kuruş
Same birthplace
Of the 1,999 officials born in Istanbul, 1,997 have a recorded salary; Mehmet Cevat Bey had the 1,196th highest salary of them.
- Ahmed Sadi Efendiborn 1886/87 (AH 1304); highest salary 100 kuruş
- Ahmet Cemil Efendiborn 1886/87 (AH 1304); highest salary 100 kuruş
- Ahmet Kenan Efendiborn 1886/87 (AH 1304); highest salary 100 kuruş
- Ahmet Mücahit Efendiborn 1886/87 (AH 1304); highest salary 300 kuruş
- Ahmet Refik Efendiborn 1886/87 (AH 1304); highest salary 500 kuruş
First annual entry in the same year
Of the 161 officials whose first annual entry is for 1906/07 (AH 1324), Mehmet Cevat Bey had the 24th highest salary.
- Ahmet Cemil Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 100 kuruş
- İbrahim Halil Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 50 kuruş
- İbrahim Vasıf Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 300 kuruş
- İsmail Hakkı Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 100 kuruş
- Mehmet Kâzım Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 100 kuruş
Full record
Annual entries (4)
| Year | Title | Place | Kuruş a month | Institution | Source | Archive reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1906/07AH 1324 | Havalename Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 200 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 147-160-315 |
| 1907/08AH 1325 | Havalename Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 200 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 147-160-315 |
| 1908/09AH 1326 | Havalename Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 200 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 147-160-315 |
| 1909/10AH 1327 | Havalename Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 400 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 147-160-315 |
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 (15)
| Field | Recorded value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | ||
| Name | Mehmet Cevat Bey | Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Birth year (AH) | 1304 | 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 | Jandarma | 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) | 3 used on this page | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Years of apprenticeship (mülazemet) | 0 other value | Recovered annual personnel extract |
| First work | ||
| First work: year (AH) | 1321 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| First work: Gregorian year as stored | 1903 | 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) | 50 | 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.
- The sources give more than one value for a marked field. Every value is listed.
- Origin of the record: Post and Telegraph personnel records.
How to read this record: calendar years, years without an annual entry, salaries and sources.
Subjects
- Mehmet Cevat Bey
- Money order office (Havalename Kalemi)
- Istanbul (Dersaadet)
- Rüşdiye school (Rüşdiye Mektebi)
- Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf)
- Muslim (Müslüman)
- 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)