Official
Mehmet Rıfkı Efendi
Muslim (Müslüman). Born in Kastamonu in 1878/79 (AH 1296). On record 1898 to 1909, 11 annual entries.
Archive reference 164-136-267
Life#
Born in Kastamonu in 1878/79 (AH 1296), Mehmet Rıfkı Efendi came from the Muslim (Müslüman) community. Mehmet Rıfkı had seven years of schooling, at a middle school (Rüşdiye Mektebi), and wrote French as well as Turkish.
At about 19, in 1898/99, Mehmet Rıfkı began work in Tripoli (Trablusgarp), paid from the start, on 50 kuruş a month. The first annual entry, for 1898/99, places Mehmet Rıfkı in Tripoli as a fair-copy clerk (Mübeyyiz), where the entries run to 1907/08, with a rise to registry clerk (Mukayyit) in 1904/05. The last post was in Istanbul in 1908/09.
The salary went from 50 kuruş a month in 1898/99 to 430 in 1905/06, the peak, as Mukayyit in Tripoli, when 46 per cent of paid officials earned less. In all, 11 years of salary come to 32,160 kuruş, 53 per cent of what an official on the median salary earned in those years. The last annual entry is for 1908/09.
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.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1898/99 | 50 | 500 | 0% | |
| 1899/1900 | 75 | 500 | 0% | |
| 1900/01 | 75 | 500 | 0% | |
| 1901/02 | 160 | 500 | 8% | |
| 1902/03 | 200 | 500 | 340 | 9% |
| 1903/04 | 200 | 475 | 385 | 8% |
| 1904/05 | 280 | 450 | 210 | 22% |
| 1905/06 | 430 | 475 | 260 | 46% |
| 1906/07 | 430 | 450 | 250 | 48% |
| 1907/08 | 430 | 300 | 237.5 | 63% |
| 1908/09 | 350 | 350 | 200 | 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1898/99AH 1316 | First work | Tripoli (Trablusgarp) | 50first-salary field |
| 1898 to 1904AH 1316 to 1321 | Mübeyyiz | Tripoli (Trablusgarp) | 50 to 200 |
| 1904 to 1908AH 1322 to 1325 | Mukayyit | Tripoli (Trablusgarp) | 280 to 430 |
| 1908/09AH 1326 | Nakliye Memuru | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 350 |
Record#
Personal
- Born
- 1878/79 (AH 1296)
- Birthplace
- Kastamonu
- Community
- Muslim (Müslüman)
- Nationality as recorded
- Turkish
Education
- Rüşdiye
- Rüşdiye Mektebi (7 years)rüşdiye school (middle school)
- Unpaid years (mülazemet)
- 0 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
- French
- Kitabetwriting
- Turkish
- Kitabetwriting
The glosses are cautious historical readings of the recorded words, not modern levels of proficiency.
First work
- Year
- 1898/99 (AH 1316)
- 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 41 officials with entries in Tripoli (Trablusgarp) in the same years, Mehmet Rıfkı Efendi had the 37th highest salary.
- Mehmet Ragıb Efendi10 shared years; highest salary 1,060 kuruş
- Mehmet Tahir Efendi8 shared years; highest salary 800 kuruş
- Mehmet Sabri Efendi8 shared years; highest salary 500 kuruş
- Ahmet Refik Efendi5 shared years; highest salary 800 kuruş
- Kostantin Eminyan Efendi5 shared years; highest salary 650 kuruş
Same job title, same years
Of the 8 officials with the title Mübeyyiz in the same years, Mehmet Rıfkı Efendi had the 6th highest salary.
- Unnamed official (43_96; 189)6 shared years; highest salary 600 kuruş
- Mehmet Talat Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 600 kuruş
- Abdülaziz Efendi2 shared years; highest salary 900 kuruş
- Mehmet İhsan Efendi2 shared years; highest salary 300 kuruş
- Salih Zeki Efendi2 shared years; highest salary 300 kuruş
Same school
Of the 3,206 officials with Rüşdiye Mektebi among their schools, 3,200 have a recorded salary; Mehmet Rıfkı Efendi had the 1,707th 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 34 officials born in Kastamonu, Mehmet Rıfkı Efendi had the 25th highest salary.
- Ahmet Kamil Efendiborn 1878/79 (AH 1296); highest salary 750 kuruş
- Mehmet Şükrü Efendiborn 1877/78 (AH 1294); highest salary 1,000 kuruş
- Ahmet Memduh Efendiborn 1876/77 (AH 1293); highest salary 400 kuruş
- Hüseyin Azmi Efendiborn 1875/76 (AH 1292); highest salary 2,250 kuruş
- Mehmet Emin Nuri Efendiborn 1874/75 (AH 1291); highest salary 400 kuruş
First annual entry in the same year
Of the 93 officials whose first annual entry is for 1898/99 (AH 1316), 92 have a recorded salary; Mehmet Rıfkı Efendi had the 35th highest salary of them.
- Mehmet Sabri Efendifirst entry in Tripoli (Trablusgarp); highest salary 500 kuruş
- Ahmet Hıfzı Efendifirst entry in Ilgın; highest salary 200 kuruş
- Ahmet Mithat Efendifirst entry in Berat; highest salary 250 kuruş
- Hacı Şükrü Efendifirst entry in Bitola (Manastır); highest salary 500 kuruş
- Hasan Tahsin Efendifirst entry in Izmir (İzmir); highest salary 200 kuruş
Full record
Annual entries (11)
| Year | Title | Place | Kuruş a month | Institution | Source | Archive reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1898/99AH 1316 | Mübeyyiz | Tripoli (Trablusgarp) | 50 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 164-136-267 |
| 1899/1900AH 1317 | Mübeyyiz | Tripoli (Trablusgarp) | 75 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 164-136-267 |
| 1900/01AH 1318 | Mübeyyiz | Tripoli (Trablusgarp) | 75 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 164-136-267 |
| 1901/02AH 1319 | Mübeyyiz | Tripoli (Trablusgarp) | 160 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 164-136-267 |
| 1902/03AH 1320 | Mübeyyiz | Tripoli (Trablusgarp) | 200 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 164-136-267 |
| 1903/04AH 1321 | Mübeyyiz | Tripoli (Trablusgarp) | 200 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 164-136-267 |
| 1904/05AH 1322 | Mukayyit | Tripoli (Trablusgarp) | 280 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 164-136-267 |
| 1905/06AH 1323 | Mukayyit | Tripoli (Trablusgarp) | 430 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 164-136-267 |
| 1906/07AH 1324 | Mukayyit | Tripoli (Trablusgarp) | 430 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 164-136-267 |
| 1907/08AH 1325 | Mukayyit | Tripoli (Trablusgarp) | 430 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 164-136-267 |
| 1908/09AH 1326 | Nakliye Memuru | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 350 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 164-136-267 |
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 (13)
| Field | Recorded value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | ||
| Name | Mehmet Rıfkı Efendi | Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Birth year (AH) | 1296 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Birthplace | kastamonu | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Province of birth | kastamonu | 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) | 0 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| First work | ||
| First work: year (AH) | 1316 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| First work: Gregorian year as stored | 1898 | Recovered annual personnel extract |
| First work: place | Trablusgarp | 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.
- Origin of the record: Post and Telegraph personnel records.
- 8 annual entries of 11 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 Rıfkı Efendi
- Fair-copy clerk (Mübeyyiz)
- Tripoli (Trablusgarp)
- Kastamonu
- 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)