Official
Ahmet Tevfik Efendi
Muslim (Müslüman). Born in Nicosia (Lefkoşa) in 1839/40 (AH 1255). On record 1877 to 1882, 5 annual entries.
Archive reference 23_178; 353
Life#
Born in Nicosia (Lefkoşa) in 1839/40 (AH 1255), Ahmet Tevfik Efendi came from the Muslim (Müslüman) community; the father was a mufti (müftü). Ahmet Tevfik had four years of schooling, at a school for young children (Sıbyan Mektebi).
Work began in the Tahrirat Kalemi in Kibris in 1856/57, at about 17, paid from the start, on 150 kuruş a month. Every annual entry from 1877/78 to 1881/82 places Ahmet Tevfik in Istanbul, first in the correspondence office (Tahrirat Kalemi), from 1878 as Pul Muduru and from 1881/82 as Evkaf Memuru.
The salary went from 800 kuruş a month in 1877/78 to 2,500 in 1878, the peak, as Pul Muduru in Istanbul, when 93 per cent of paid officials earned less. Over five years the salaries add up to 103,200 kuruş, 3.1 times what an official on the median salary earned, a level reached by fewer than 5 per cent of the 3,805 officials paid for five years or more. The final annual entry is for 1881/82.
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 1839/40 (AH 1255)
1877 to 1882 (AH 1294 to 1299)
Tahrirat Kalemi 1877/78 (AH 1294); Pul Muduru 1878 to 1880 (AH 1295 to 1297); Evkaf Memuru 1881/82 (AH 1299)
800 to 2,500 kuruş a month; entries in 5 years
No annual entry for 1880/81 (AH 1298).
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1877/78 | 800 | 560 | 700 | 68% |
| 1878 | 2,500 | 600 | 93% | |
| 1878/79 | 2,500 | 600 | 93% | |
| 1879/80 | 2,000 | 500 | 93% | |
| 1881/82 | 800 | 500 | 77% |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1856/57AH 1273 | Tahrirat Kalemifirst work | Kibris | 150first-salary field |
| 1877/78AH 1294 | Tahrirat Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 800 |
| 1878 to 1880AH 1295 to 1297 | Pul Muduru | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 2,500 to 2,000 |
| No annual entry: 1880/81 (AH 1298) | |||
| 1881/82AH 1299 | Evkaf Memuru | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 800 |
Record#
Personal
- Born
- 1839/40 (AH 1255)
- Birthplace
- Nicosia (Lefkoşa)
- Community
- Muslim (Müslüman)
- Nationality as recorded
- Turkish
- Father's occupation
- Muftu
Education
- Primary
- Sıbyan Mektebi (4 years)school for young children (primary school); place of the school as worded: Lefkosa
- Unpaid years (mülazemet)
- 0 years
- Preparation route (classification of the paper)
- Low
- Qualification (diploma, certificate, training or nişan)
- NoShown as in the flag of the paper. The qualification column of the recovered extract gives 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
- 1856/57 (AH 1273)
- Place
- Kibris
- First job as worded
- Tahrirat Kalemi
- Age at first work (workbook field)
- 18
- First salary field (kuruş a month)
- 150
- First-job salary of the original workbook (kuruş a month)
- 150
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 459 officials with entries in Istanbul in the same years, Ahmet Tevfik Efendi had the 89th highest salary.
- Emil Efendi5 shared years; highest salary 9,000 kuruş
- Salahattin Bey5 shared years; highest salary 7,800 kuruş
- İsmail Hakki Bey5 shared years; highest salary 7,500 kuruş
- Suleyman Resat Bey5 shared years; highest salary 7,000 kuruş
- Mehmet Hayri Bey5 shared years; highest salary 5,500 kuruş
Same job title, same years
Of the 19 officials with the title Tahrirat Kalemi in the same years, Ahmet Tevfik Efendi had the 4th highest salary.
- Yusuf Ziya Bey1 shared year; highest salary 5,400 kuruş
- Mehmet Arif Efendi1 shared year; highest salary 3,600 kuruş
- Mehmet Fahri Efendi1 shared year; highest salary 3,000 kuruş
- Ali Kaya Bey1 shared year; highest salary 2,500 kuruş
- Muharrem Bey1 shared year; highest salary 2,500 kuruş
Same school
Of the 746 officials with Sıbyan Mektebi among their schools, 745 have a recorded salary; Ahmet Tevfik Efendi had the 54th highest salary of them.
- Abdulhamit Efendiborn 1839/40 (AH 1255); highest salary 2,000 kuruş
- Abdullah Şükrü Efendiborn 1839/40 (AH 1255); highest salary 720 kuruş
- Ahmet Cavit Beyborn 1839/40 (AH 1255); highest salary 3,000 kuruş
- Ahmet Efendiborn 1839/40 (AH 1255); highest salary 500 kuruş
- Ahmet Hamdi Efendiborn 1839/40 (AH 1255); highest salary 1,000 kuruş
Same birthplace
Of the 2 officials born in Nicosia (Lefkoşa), Ahmet Tevfik Efendi had the lowest salary.
- Cafer Sadik Efendiborn 1826/27 (AH 1242); highest salary 3,000 kuruş
The page of Nicosia (Lefkoşa), with the 2 officials born there
First annual entry in the same year
Of the 118 officials whose first annual entry is for 1877/78 (AH 1294), Ahmet Tevfik Efendi had the 2nd highest salary.
- Cemal Beyfirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 1,100 kuruş
- Mehmet Raşit Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 725 kuruş
- Abdülhamit Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 440 kuruş
- Mehmet Ali Beyfirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 2,200 kuruş
- Mehmet Ziya Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 450 kuruş
Full record
Annual entries (5)
| Year | Title | Place | Kuruş a month | Institution | Source | Archive reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1877/78AH 1294 | Tahrirat Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 800 | Other | Cross-ministry personnel workbook | 23_178; 353 |
| 1878AH 1295 | Pul Muduru | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 2,500 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 23_178; 353 |
| 1878/79AH 1296 | Pul Muduru | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 2,500 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 23_178; 353 |
| 1879/80AH 1297 | Pul Muduru | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 2,000 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 23_178; 353 |
| 1881/82AH 1299 | Evkaf Memuru | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 800 | Other | Cross-ministry personnel workbook | 23_178; 353 |
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 | Ahmet Tevfik Efendi | Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract; Linked personnel workbook |
| Birth year (AH) | 1255 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract; Cross-ministry personnel workbook |
| Birthplace | lefkose used on this page | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Birthplace | Lefkosa other value | Cross-ministry personnel workbook |
| Birthplace: district (kaza) | Lefkosa | Cross-ministry personnel workbook |
| Birthplace: sancak | Kibris | Cross-ministry personnel workbook |
| Birthplace: province (vilayet) | Cezairi Bahri Sefid | Cross-ministry personnel workbook |
| Province of birth | cezairi bahri sefid | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Father's occupation | muftu | 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 | Sibyan mektebi | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract; Cross-ministry personnel workbook |
| Place of the school | Lefkosa | Cross-ministry personnel workbook |
| Years of schooling | 4 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract; Cross-ministry personnel workbook |
| Years of apprenticeship (mülazemet) | 0 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract; Cross-ministry personnel workbook |
| First work | ||
| First work: year (AH) | 1273 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract; Linked personnel workbook |
| First work: Gregorian year as stored | 1857 | Recovered annual personnel extract |
| First work: place | kibris | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract; Cross-ministry personnel workbook |
| First work: district (kaza) | kibris | Cross-ministry personnel workbook |
| First work: sancak | kibris | Cross-ministry personnel workbook |
| First work: province (vilayet) | Cezairi Bahri Sefid | Cross-ministry personnel workbook |
| First job as worded | Tahrirat Kalemi | Linked personnel workbook; Cross-ministry personnel workbook |
| Age at first work (workbook field) | 18 | Cross-ministry personnel workbook |
| First salary field (kuruş a month) | 150 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| First-job salary of the original workbook (kuruş a month) | 150 | Linked personnel workbook; Cross-ministry personnel workbook |
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.
- 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.
- 3 annual entries of 5 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
- Ahmet Tevfik Efendi
- Pul Muduru
- Istanbul (Dersaadet)
- Nicosia (Lefkoşa)
- School for young children (Sıbyan 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)