Official
Mehmet Zihni Efendi
Muslim (Müslüman). Born in Karamürsel in 1869/70 (AH 1286). On record 1897 to 1907, 10 annual entries.
Archive reference 103_169_335
Life#
Born in Karamürsel in 1869/70 (AH 1286) into the Muslim (Müslüman) community, Mehmet Zihni Efendi was the child of a clerk (ketebe). Mehmet Zihni had seven years of schooling, at a middle school (Rüşdiye Mektebi).
At about 20, in 1889/90, Mehmet Zihni began work, paid from the start, on 300 kuruş a month. The annual lists begin in 1897/98, with Mehmet Zihni as a communications official (Muhabere Memuru) in Yalova. Next came Çanakkale, Damascus (Şam) and Mudawwara (Müdevvere) from 1898 to 1904, then a return to Damascus from 1904 to 1906. The last post was in Çanakkale again in 1906/07.
Pay rose from 300 kuruş a month in 1897/98 to a peak of 800 in 1903/04, as Muhabere Memuru in Mudawwara, when four in five paid officials earned less. The peak lasted a single year; the next list gives 300 kuruş. Over ten years pay ended where it began, at 300 kuruş. In all, ten years of salary come to 42,000 kuruş, 72 per cent of what an official on the median salary earned in those years. The last annual entry is for 1906/07.
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 1869/70 (AH 1286)
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 | 300 | 500 | 400 | 19% |
| 1898/99 | 300 | 500 | 400 | 19% |
| 1899/1900 | 300 | 500 | 400 | 18% |
| 1900/01 | 300 | 500 | 400 | 18% |
| 1901/02 | 300 | 500 | 400 | 20% |
| 1902/03 | 300 | 500 | 380 | 21% |
| 1903/04 | 800 | 475 | 350 | 80% |
| 1904/05 | 300 | 450 | 350 | 23% |
| 1905/06 | 300 | 475 | 330 | 23% |
| 1906/07 | 300 | 450 | 300 | 25% |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1889/90AH 1307 | First work | 300first-salary field | |
| 1897/98AH 1315 | Muhabere Memuru | Yalova | 300 |
| 1898 to 1901AH 1316 to 1318 | Muhabere Memuru | Çanakkale | 300 |
| 1901 to 1903AH 1319 to 1320 | Muhabere Memuru | Damascus (Şam) | 300 |
| 1903/04AH 1321 | Muhabere Memuru | Mudawwara (Müdevvere) | 800 |
| 1904 to 1906AH 1322 to 1323 | Muhabere Memuru | Damascus (Şam) | 300 |
| 1906/07AH 1324 | Muhabere Memuru | Çanakkale | 300 |
Record#
Personal
- Born
- 1869/70 (AH 1286)
- Birthplace
- Karamürsel
- Community
- Muslim (Müslüman)
- Nationality as recorded
- Turkish
- Father's occupation
- Ketebe
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
- Turkish
- Kitabetwriting
The glosses are cautious historical readings of the recorded words, not modern levels of proficiency.
First work
- Year
- 1889/90 (AH 1307)
- First salary field (kuruş a month)
- 300
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 20 officials with entries in Çanakkale in the same years, Mehmet Zihni Efendi had the 5th highest salary.
- Besim Efendi4 shared years; highest salary 800 kuruş
- Ali Rıza Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 1,250 kuruş
- Mayer Festo Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 1,000 kuruş
- Yuvanaki İstavridis Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 500 kuruş
- İbrahim Ethem Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 400 kuruş
Same job title, same years
Of the 1,765 officials with the title Muhabere Memuru in the same years, Mehmet Zihni Efendi had the 148th highest salary.
- Mehmet Hulusi Bey10 shared years; highest salary 2,600 kuruş
- Mustafa Fazıl Bey10 shared years; highest salary 1,700 kuruş
- Mehmet Sadullah Efendi10 shared years; highest salary 1,650 kuruş
- Mehmet Asım Efendi10 shared years; highest salary 1,550 kuruş
- Nikola Yunani Efendi10 shared years; highest salary 1,350 kuruş
Same school
Of the 3,206 officials with Rüşdiye Mektebi among their schools, 3,200 have a recorded salary; Mehmet Zihni Efendi had the 477th highest salary of them.
- Abbas Zihni Efendiborn 1869/70 (AH 1286); highest salary 540 kuruş
- Abdülkerim Efendiborn 1869/70 (AH 1286); highest salary 800 kuruş
- Ahmet Akif Efendiborn 1869/70 (AH 1286); highest salary 500 kuruş
- Ahmet Efendiborn 1869/70 (AH 1286); highest salary 750 kuruş
- Ahmet Efendiborn 1869/70 (AH 1286); highest salary 260 kuruş
First annual entry in the same year
Of the 88 officials whose first annual entry is for 1897/98 (AH 1315), Mehmet Zihni Efendi had the 4th highest salary.
- Halil Hilmi Efendifirst entry in Xanthi (İskeçe); highest salary 300 kuruş
- İbrahim Zeki Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 150 kuruş
- Osman Efendi Efendifirst entry in Mazgirt; highest salary 250 kuruş
- Mustafa Şükrü Efendifirst entry in Skopje (Üsküp); highest salary 300 kuruş
- HÜSEYİN AVNİ EFENDİfirst entry in Crete (Girit); highest salary 540 kuruş
Full record
Annual entries (10)
| Year | Title | Place | Kuruş a month | Institution | Source | Archive reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1897/98AH 1315 | Muhabere Memuru | Yalova | 300 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 103_169_335 |
| 1898/99AH 1316 | Muhabere Memuru | Çanakkale | 300 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 103_169_335 |
| 1899/1900AH 1317 | Muhabere Memuru | Çanakkale | 300 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 103_169_335 |
| 1900/01AH 1318 | Muhabere Memuru | Çanakkale | 300 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 103_169_335 |
| 1901/02AH 1319 | Muhabere Memuru | Damascus (Şam) | 300 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 103_169_335 |
| 1902/03AH 1320 | Muhabere Memuru | Damascus (Şam) | 300 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 103_169_335 |
| 1903/04AH 1321 | Muhabere Memuru | Mudawwara (Müdevvere) | 800 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 103_169_335 |
| 1904/05AH 1322 | Muhabere Memuru | Damascus (Şam) | 300 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 103_169_335 |
| 1905/06AH 1323 | Muhabere Memuru | Damascus (Şam) | 300 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 103_169_335 |
| 1906/07AH 1324 | Muhabere Memuru | Çanakkale | 300 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 103_169_335 |
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 Zihni Efendi | Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Birth year (AH) | 1286 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Birthplace | karamursel | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Province of birth | izmit | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Father's occupation | ketebe | 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) | 1307 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| First work: Gregorian year as stored | 1890 | Recovered annual personnel extract |
| First salary field (kuruş a month) | 300 | 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.
- 9 annual entries of 10 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 Zihni Efendi
- Communications official (Muhabere Memuru)
- Çanakkale
- Karamürsel
- 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)