Official
Ahmet Rifat Efendi
Muslim (Müslüman). Born in Istanbul (Dersaadet) in 1856/57 (AH 1273). On record 1872 to 1881, 10 annual entries.
Archive reference 8_11; 19
Life#
Born in Istanbul in 1856/57 (AH 1273), Ahmet Rifat Efendi came from the Muslim (Müslüman) community; the father was a tradesman (esnaf). Ahmet Rifat had four years of schooling, at a school for young children (Sıbyan Mektebi), and attended the telegraph school as well.
At about 15, in 1871/72, Ahmet Rifat began work in Istanbul, with one unpaid year as a mülazım (apprentice) before a first salary of 120 kuruş. Every annual entry from 1872/73 to 1880/81 places Ahmet Rifat in Istanbul, the birthplace, first in the correspondence office (Tahrirat Kalemi), from 1877/78 in the dispatch office (Sevk Kalemi).
Pay rose from 120 kuruş a month in 1872/73 to a peak of 400 in 1876/77, in the Tahrirat Kalemi in Istanbul, when 17 per cent of paid officials earned less. In all, ten years of salary come to 34,080 kuruş, 52 per cent of what an official on the median salary earned in those years. The last annual entry is for 1880/81.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1872/73 | 120 | 550 | 400 | 2% |
| 1873/74 | 120 | 500 | 400 | 2% |
| 1874/75 | 120 | 535 | 420 | 2% |
| 1875/76 | 120 | 530 | 700 | 2% |
| 1876/77 | 400 | 582.5 | 600 | 17% |
| 1877/78 | 400 | 560 | 400 | 16% |
| 1878 | 400 | 600 | 400 | 17% |
| 1878/79 | 400 | 600 | 400 | 18% |
| 1879/80 | 380 | 500 | 382.5 | 22% |
| 1880/81 | 380 | 500 | 380 | 21% |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1871/72AH 1288 | First work | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 120first-salary field |
| 1872 to 1877AH 1289 to 1293 | Tahrirat Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 120 to 400 |
| 1877 to 1881AH 1294 to 1298 | Sevk Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 400 to 380 |
Record#
Personal
- Born
- 1856/57 (AH 1273)
- Birthplace
- Istanbul (Dersaadet)
- Community
- Muslim (Müslüman)
- Nationality as recorded
- Turkish
- Father's occupation
- Esnaf
Education
- Primary
- Sıbyan Mektebi (4 years)school for young children (primary school)
- Higher or professional
- Telgraf Mektebitelegraph school; recorded as a code
- Unpaid years (mülazemet)
- 1 year
- 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
- 1871/72 (AH 1288)
- Place
- Istanbul (Dersaadet)
- First salary field (kuruş a month)
- 120
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 491 officials with entries in Istanbul in the same years, Ahmet Rifat Efendi had the 454th highest salary.
- Emil Efendi10 shared years; highest salary 9,000 kuruş
- Suleyman Resat Bey10 shared years; highest salary 7,000 kuruş
- Mehmet Hayri Bey10 shared years; highest salary 5,500 kuruş
- Mehmet Emin Bey10 shared years; highest salary 5,000 kuruş
- Melkok Efendi10 shared years; highest salary 5,000 kuruş
Same job title, same years
Of the 32 officials with the title Tahrirat Kalemi in the same years, Ahmet Rifat Efendi had the 31st highest salary.
- Yusuf Ziya Bey5 shared years; highest salary 5,400 kuruş
- Ali Kaya Bey5 shared years; highest salary 2,500 kuruş
- Mehmet Şevki Efendi5 shared years; highest salary 2,000 kuruş
- Huseyin Refik Efendi5 shared years; highest salary 1,500 kuruş
- Mehmet Arif Efendi5 shared years; highest salary 1,500 kuruş
Same school
Of the 746 officials with Sıbyan Mektebi among their schools, 745 have a recorded salary; Ahmet Rifat Efendi had the 617th highest salary of them.
- Ahmet Fazıl Efendiborn 1856/57 (AH 1273); highest salary 900 kuruş
- Ahmet Necip Efendiborn 1856/57 (AH 1273); highest salary 600 kuruş
- Ali Beyborn 1856/57 (AH 1273); highest salary 1,400 kuruş
- Hüseyin Efendiborn 1856/57 (AH 1273); highest salary 1,200 kuruş
- Hüseyin Efendiborn 1856/57 (AH 1273); highest salary 400 kuruş
Same birthplace
Of the 1,999 officials born in Istanbul, 1,997 have a recorded salary; Ahmet Rifat Efendi had the 1,196th highest salary of them.
- Abdurrahman Rüştü Efendiborn 1856/57 (AH 1273); highest salary 760 kuruş
- Alfo Efendiborn 1856/57 (AH 1273); highest salary 600 kuruş
- Ali Beyborn 1856/57 (AH 1273); highest salary 1,400 kuruş
- Ali Nuri Efendiborn 1856/57 (AH 1273); highest salary 440 kuruş
- Ali Rıza Efendiborn 1856/57 (AH 1273); highest salary 2,000 kuruş
First annual entry in the same year
Of the 84 officials whose first annual entry is for 1872/73 (AH 1289), Ahmet Rifat Efendi had the 81st highest salary.
- Mehmet Cemal Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 750 kuruş
- Ömer Faik Beyfirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 600 kuruş
- Mehmet Zühdü Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 1,435 kuruş
- Mehmet Fehmi Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 1,100 kuruş
- İsmail Hakkı Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 790 kuruş
Full record
Annual entries (10)
| Year | Title | Place | Kuruş a month | Institution | Source | Archive reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1872/73AH 1289 | Tahrirat Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 120 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 8_11; 19 |
| 1873/74AH 1290 | Tahrirat Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 120 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 8_11; 19 |
| 1874/75AH 1291 | Tahrirat Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 120 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 8_11; 19 |
| 1875/76AH 1292 | Tahrirat Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 120 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 8_11; 19 |
| 1876/77AH 1293 | Tahrirat Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 400 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 8_11; 19 |
| 1877/78AH 1294 | Sevk Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 400 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 8_11; 19 |
| 1878AH 1295 | Sevk Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 400 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 8_11; 19 |
| 1878/79AH 1296 | Sevk Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 400 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 8_11; 19 |
| 1879/80AH 1297 | Sevk Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 380 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 8_11; 19 |
| 1880/81AH 1298 | Sevk Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 380 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 8_11; 19 |
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 | Ahmet Rifat Efendi | Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Birth year (AH) | 1273 | 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 | esnaf | 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 | Sibyan mektebi | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Years of schooling | 4 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Telegraph school (recorded code) | 1 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Years of apprenticeship (mülazemet) | 1 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| First work | ||
| First work: year (AH) | 1288 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| First work: Gregorian year as stored | 1871 | 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) | 120 | 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.
- 10 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
- Ahmet Rifat Efendi
- Correspondence office (Tahrirat Kalemi)
- Istanbul (Dersaadet)
- School for young children (Sıbyan Mektebi)
- Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf)
- Muslim (Müslüman)
- Dispatch office (Sevk Kalemi)
- 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)