Official
Mehmet Asıf Efendi
Muslim (Müslüman). Born in Malatya in 1875/76 (AH 1292). On record 1898 to 1907, 7 annual entries.
Archive reference 60_0240; 477
Life#
Born in Malatya in 1875/76 (AH 1292), Mehmet Asıf Efendi came from the Muslim (Müslüman) community; the father was an accounts official (muhasebe memuru). Mehmet Asıf had 12 years of schooling, at the Gulhane Askeri Mektebi, and wrote Turkish and had some knowledge of French. Of the 5,146 officials with a school, no other studied at Gulhane Askeri Mektebi.
Work began in the Tahrirat Kalemi in Bereket in 1890/91, at about 16, with half a year without pay as a mülazım (apprentice) before a first salary of 120 kuruş. The annual lists begin in 1898/99, with Mehmet Asıf in the Nafia Kitabeti in Canik. From 1899 to 1907 the annual entries place Mehmet Asıf in Istanbul, first as an official (Memur), from 1901/02 in the money order office (Havalename Kalemi) and from 1902/03 in the control office (Kontrol Kalemi). The lists have no entry for 1903 to 1905.
The salary went from 300 kuruş a month in 1898/99 to 1,500 in 1900/01, the peak, as Memur in Istanbul, when 94 per cent of paid officials earned less. The peak lasted a single year; the next list gives 250 kuruş. 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 1875/76 (AH 1292)
1899 to 1907 (AH 1317 to 1324)
Memur 1899 to 1901 (AH 1317 to 1318); Havalename Kalemi 1901/02 (AH 1319); Kontrol Kalemi 1902 to 1907 (AH 1320 to 1324)
100 to 1,500 kuruş a month; entries in 6 years
No annual entry for 1903 to 1905 (AH 1321 to 1322).
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 | 300 | 500 | 19% | |
| 1899/1900 | 100 | 500 | 400 | 0% |
| 1900/01 | 1,500 | 500 | 400 | 94% |
| 1901/02 | 250 | 500 | 550 | 14% |
| 1902/03 | 250 | 500 | 300 | 15% |
| 1905/06 | 300 | 475 | 300 | 23% |
| 1906/07 | 300 | 450 | 320 | 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1890/91AH 1308 | Tahrirat Kalemifirst work | Bereket | 120first-salary field |
| 1898/99AH 1316 | Nafia Kitabeti | Canik | 300 |
| 1899 to 1901AH 1317 to 1318 | Memur | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 100 to 1,500 |
| 1901/02AH 1319 | Havalename Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 250 |
| 1902/03AH 1320 | Kontrol Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 250 |
| No annual entry: 1903 to 1905 (AH 1321 to 1322) | |||
| 1905 to 1907AH 1323 to 1324 | Kontrol Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 300 |
Record#
Personal
- Born
- 1875/76 (AH 1292)
- Birthplace
- Malatya
- Community
- Muslim (Müslüman)
- Nationality as recorded
- Turkish
- Father's occupation
- Muhasebe Memuru
Education
- Higher or professional
- Gulhane Askeri Mektebi (12 years)
- Unpaid years (mülazemet)
- 0.5 years
- Preparation route (classification of the paper)
- Other High
- Qualification (diploma, certificate, training or nişan)
- No
The years count all schooling up to that school, as the record gives them.
Languages
- French
- Asinafamiliarity
- Turkish
- Kitabetwriting
The glosses are cautious historical readings of the recorded words, not modern levels of proficiency.
First work
- Year
- 1890/91 (AH 1308)
- Place
- Bereket
- First job as worded
- Tahrirat Kalemi
- Age at first work (workbook field)
- 17
- First salary field (kuruş a month)
- 120
- First-job salary of the original workbook (kuruş a month)
- 120
Legal records
- Legal record note as worded
- Devamsızlık sebebiyle; Devamsızlık
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 923 officials with entries in Istanbul in the same years, Mehmet Asıf Efendi had the 94th highest salary.
- Hüseyin Hasip Efendi6 shared years; highest salary 20,000 kuruş
- Suleyman Resat Bey6 shared years; highest salary 7,000 kuruş
- Mehmet Hayri Bey6 shared years; highest salary 5,500 kuruş
- Hasan Ferit Efendi6 shared years; highest salary 5,000 kuruş
- Mehmet Asaf Bey6 shared years; highest salary 5,000 kuruş
Same job title, same years
Of the 47 officials with the title Kontrol Kalemi in the same years, Mehmet Asıf Efendi had the highest salary.
- Mıgırdıç Tanfiraki3 shared years; highest salary 1,300 kuruş
- Unnamed official (0049_0043; 83)3 shared years; highest salary 850 kuruş
- Mehmet Tevfik Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 500 kuruş
- Ali Rıza Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 400 kuruş
- Mehmet Şükrü Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 400 kuruş
Same birthplace
Of the 22 officials born in Malatya, Mehmet Asıf Efendi had the 2nd highest salary.
- Ali Riza Efendiborn 1876/77 (AH 1293); highest salary 500 kuruş
- Ahmet Hamdi Efendiborn 1872/73 (AH 1289); highest salary 500 kuruş
- Hacı Mehmet Arif Efendiborn 1878 (AH 1295); highest salary 150 kuruş
- Abdullah Avni Efendiborn 1871/72 (AH 1288); highest salary 380 kuruş
- Yusuf Cemil Efendiborn 1878/79 (AH 1296); 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 Asıf Efendi had the 2nd highest salary of them.
- Ahmet Rıfat Efendifirst entry in Balıkesir; highest salary 500 kuruş
- Arif Mustafa Efendifirst entry in Didymoteicho (Dimetoka); highest salary 380 kuruş
- Artanis Hurşit Efendifirst entry in Baghdad (Bağdat); highest salary 350 kuruş
- Cemal Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 400 kuruş
- İsmail Hilmi Efendifirst entry in Jaffa (Yafa); highest salary 400 kuruş
Full record
Annual entries (7)
| Year | Title | Place | Kuruş a month | Institution | Source | Archive reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1898/99AH 1316 | Nafia Kitabeti | Canik | 300 | Other | Cross-ministry personnel workbook | 60_0240; 477 |
| 1899/1900AH 1317 | Memur | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 100 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 60_0240; 477 |
| 1900/01AH 1318 | Memur | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 1,500 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 60_0240; 477 |
| 1901/02AH 1319 | Havalename Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 250 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 60_0240; 477 |
| 1902/03AH 1320 | Kontrol Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 250 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 60_0240; 477 |
| 1905/06AH 1323 | Kontrol Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 300 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 60_0240; 477 |
| 1906/07AH 1324 | Kontrol Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 300 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 60_0240; 477 |
What the sources named in this table are
- Cross-ministry personnel workbook
- A personnel workbook with the annual entries in institutions other than the Post and Telegraph (justice, land registry, customs, police and others), with the same annual fields as the personnel workbook.
- 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 (25)
| Field | Recorded value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | ||
| Name | Mehmet Asıf Efendi | Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract; Linked personnel workbook |
| Birth year (AH) | 1292 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract; Cross-ministry personnel workbook |
| Birthplace | malatya | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract; Cross-ministry personnel workbook |
| Birthplace: district (kaza) | Malatya | Cross-ministry personnel workbook |
| Birthplace: sancak | Malatya | Cross-ministry personnel workbook |
| Birthplace: province (vilayet) | Elazig | Cross-ministry personnel workbook |
| Province of birth | elazig | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Father's occupation | Muhasebe Memuru | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract; Cross-ministry personnel workbook |
| Religion | Musluman | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract; Cross-ministry personnel workbook |
| Nationality or community | Turkish | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract; Cross-ministry personnel workbook |
| Schooling | ||
| School | Gulhane Askeri Mektebi | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract; Cross-ministry personnel workbook |
| Years of schooling | 12 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract; Cross-ministry personnel workbook |
| Years of apprenticeship (mülazemet) | 0.5 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract; Cross-ministry personnel workbook |
| First work | ||
| First work: year (AH) | 1308 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract; Linked personnel workbook |
| First work: Gregorian year as stored | 1891 | Recovered annual personnel extract |
| First work: place | Bereket | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract; Cross-ministry personnel workbook |
| First work: district (kaza) | Cebeli Bereket | Cross-ministry personnel workbook |
| First work: sancak | Cebeli Bereket | Cross-ministry personnel workbook |
| First work: province (vilayet) | Adana | Cross-ministry personnel workbook |
| First job as worded | Tahrirat Kalemi | Linked personnel workbook; Cross-ministry personnel workbook |
| Age at first work (workbook field) | 17 | Cross-ministry personnel workbook |
| First salary field (kuruş a month) | 120 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| First-job salary of the original workbook (kuruş a month) | 120 | Linked personnel workbook; Cross-ministry personnel workbook |
| Legal records | ||
| Legal record note as worded | Devamsızlık sebebiyle used on this page | Legal notes (earlier workbook copy); Legal notes (later workbook copy) |
| Legal record note as worded | Devamsızlık other value | Legal notes (earlier workbook copy); Legal notes (later workbook copy) |
What the sources named in this table are
- Legal notes (earlier workbook copy)
- A workbook of notes on legal records. The wording is kept as written. It may hold an accusation or an acquittal, it is not the finding of a court, and its year is the year of the record, not the date of an event.
- Legal notes (later workbook copy)
- A later copy of the workbook of notes on legal records. The same wording in both copies is one note, not two.
- Cross-ministry personnel workbook
- A personnel workbook with the annual entries in institutions other than the Post and Telegraph (justice, land registry, customs, police and others), with the same annual fields as the personnel workbook.
- 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.
- Linked personnel workbook
- The original personnel workbook, from which selected fields on background and first work are taken.
- The sources give more than one value for a marked field. Every value is listed.
- Origin of the record: Post and Telegraph personnel records.
- 5 annual entries of 7 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 Asıf Efendi
- Control office (Kontrol Kalemi)
- Istanbul (Dersaadet)
- Malatya
- Gulhane Askeri 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)