Official
Yasef Recai Efendi
Chaldean Christian (Keldani). Born in Harput in 1884/85 (AH 1302). On record 1902 to 1907, 5 annual entries.
Archive reference 147-189-273
Life#
Born in Harput in 1884/85 (AH 1302), Yasef Recai Efendi came from the Chaldean Christian (Keldani) community; the father was a telegraph official (telgraf memuru). Yasef Recai had four years of schooling, at a community school (Millet Mektebi). In all Yasef Recai knew four languages, Arabic, Armenian, French and Turkish, all in writing; fewer than 5 per cent of the 5,211 officials knew as many.
Work began in Diyarbakır in 1902/03, at about 17, paid from the start, on 300 kuruş a month. The annual lists begin in 1902/03, with Yasef Recai as an official for foreign communications (Muhaberat-ı Ecnebiye Memuriyeti) in Diyarbakır, where the entries run to 1904/05. The last posts were in Aleppo (Halep) from 1905 to 1907, with a rise to communications official (Muhabere Memuru).
The salary went from 300 kuruş a month in 1902/03 to 500 in 1905/06, the peak, as Muhabere Memuru in Aleppo, when half the paid officials earned less. The last annual entry is for 1906/07. An entry in "Sicill-i ahvâl defterlerine göre Harputlu devlet adamları" by ENES MUTLUAY (2018) probably refers to Yasef Recai, since the name and the birthplace agree.
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 1884/85 (AH 1302)
First work 1902/03 (AH 1320); 1902 to 1905 (AH 1320 to 1322)
Muhaberat-ı Ecnebiye Memuriyeti
300 kuruş a month; entries in 3 years
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1902/03 | 300 | 500 | 400 | 21% |
| 1903/04 | 300 | 475 | 450 | 23% |
| 1904/05 | 300 | 450 | 455 | 23% |
| 1905/06 | 500 | 475 | 330 | 50% |
| 1906/07 | 500 | 450 | 300 | 51% |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1902/03AH 1320 | First work | Diyarbakır | 300first-salary field |
| 1902 to 1905AH 1320 to 1322 | Muhaberat-ı Ecnebiye Memuriyeti | Diyarbakır | 300 |
| 1905 to 1907AH 1323 to 1324 | Muhabere Memuru | Aleppo (Halep) | 500 |
Record#
Personal
- Born
- 1884/85 (AH 1302)
- Birthplace
- Harput
- Community
- Chaldean Christian (Keldani)
- Nationality as recorded
- Keldani
- Father's occupation
- Telgraf Memuru
Education
- Community school
- Millet Mektebi (4 years)community school (school of a non-Muslim community)
- 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
- Arabic
- Kitabetwriting
- Armenian
- Kitabetwriting
- French
- Kitabetwriting
- Turkish
- Kitabetwriting
The glosses are cautious historical readings of the recorded words, not modern levels of proficiency.
First work
- Year
- 1902/03 (AH 1320)
- Place
- Diyarbakır
- First salary field (kuruş a month)
- 300
Named in scholarly works#
No link between a work and an official has been accepted. Each entry was found by fixed rules on the name and the recorded fields, and says what it rests on.
Sicill-i ahvâl defterlerine göre Harputlu devlet adamları (ENES MUTLUAY, 2018). Name as printed: Yasef Recai Efendi. PDF pages 71 and 72.
Probable link: same name and birthplace
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 38 officials with entries in Diyarbakır in the same years, Yasef Recai Efendi had the 14th highest salary.
- Mehmet Tevfik Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 3,750 kuruş
- Mustafa Hulusi Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 1,500 kuruş
- Luk Amasyan Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 980 kuruş
- David Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 820 kuruş
- Abdürrezzak Talat Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 750 kuruş
Same job title, same years
Of the 222 officials with the title Muhaberat-ı Ecnebiye Memuriyeti in the same years, Yasef Recai Efendi had the 117th highest salary.
- Hüseyin Azmi Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 2,250 kuruş
- Dençoylu Hayler Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 1,350 kuruş
- Ahmet Nurettin Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 1,300 kuruş
- Garon Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 1,300 kuruş
- Taşçıyan Markar Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 1,300 kuruş
All 605 officials with the title Muhaberat-ı Ecnebiye Memuriyeti
Same school
Of the 263 officials with Millet Mektebi among their schools, Yasef Recai Efendi had the 115th highest salary.
- Bedi’ Efendiborn 1884/85 (AH 1302); highest salary 250 kuruş
- Elyas Efendiborn 1884/85 (AH 1302); highest salary 200 kuruş
- Georgi Yorgi Efendiborn 1884/85 (AH 1302); highest salary 250 kuruş
- İsak Efendiborn 1884/85 (AH 1302); highest salary 250 kuruş
- Tevfik Efendiborn 1884/85 (AH 1302); highest salary 500 kuruş
Same birthplace
Of the 27 officials born in Harput, 26 have a recorded salary; Yasef Recai Efendi had the 16th highest salary of them.
- BEKİR SITKI EFENDİborn 1880/81 (AH 1298); highest salary 200 kuruş
- Mehmet Fahri Efendiborn 1889/90 (AH 1307); highest salary 300 kuruş
- Hafız Mehmet Şükrü Efendiborn 1878 (AH 1295); highest salary 500 kuruş
- Unnamed official (0086_0156:307)born 1877/78 (AH 1294); highest salary 500 kuruş
- Ali Galip Efendiborn 1876/77 (AH 1293); highest salary 2,500 kuruş
First annual entry in the same year
Of the 168 officials whose first annual entry is for 1902/03 (AH 1320), Yasef Recai Efendi had the 19th highest salary.
- Ahmet Raif Efendifirst entry in Diyarbakır; highest salary 300 kuruş
- Mustafa Nazmi Efendifirst entry in Diyarbakır; highest salary 250 kuruş
- Mehmet Sami Efendifirst entry in Diyarbakır; highest salary 300 kuruş
- Mehmet Emin Şevket Efendifirst entry in Diyarbakır; highest salary 300 kuruş
- Ahmed Hulusi Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 95 kuruş
Full record
Annual entries (5)
| Year | Title | Place | Kuruş a month | Institution | Source | Archive reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1902/03AH 1320 | Muhaberat-ı Ecnebiye Memuriyeti | Diyarbakır | 300 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 147-189-273 |
| 1903/04AH 1321 | Muhaberat-ı Ecnebiye Memuriyeti | Diyarbakır | 300 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 147-189-273 |
| 1904/05AH 1322 | Muhaberat-ı Ecnebiye Memuriyeti | Diyarbakır | 300 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 147-189-273 |
| 1905/06AH 1323 | Muhabere Memuru | Aleppo (Halep) | 500 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 147-189-273 |
| 1906/07AH 1324 | Muhabere Memuru | Aleppo (Halep) | 500 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 147-189-273 |
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 (14)
| Field | Recorded value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | ||
| Name | Yasef Recai Efendi | Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Birth year (AH) | 1302 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Birthplace | harput | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Province of birth | elazig | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Father's occupation | telgraf memuru | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Religion | Keldani | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Nationality or community | Keldani | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Schooling | ||
| School | Millet 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 |
| Years of apprenticeship (mülazemet) | 0 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| First work | ||
| First work: year (AH) | 1320 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| First work: Gregorian year as stored | 1902 | Recovered annual personnel extract |
| First work: place | Diyarbakir | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier 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.
- 4 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
- Yasef Recai Efendi
- Post of official for foreign communications (Muhaberat-ı Ecnebiye Memuriyeti)
- Diyarbakır
- Harput
- Community school (Millet Mektebi)
- Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf)
- Chaldean Christian (Keldani)
- 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)