Official
Pol Şişmanyan
Armenian Christian (Ermeni). Born in Bursa in 1869/70 (AH 1286). On record 1894 to 1906, 12 annual entries.
Archive reference 70_80; 157
Life#
Born in Bursa in 1869/70 (AH 1286) into the Armenian Christian (Ermeni) community, Pol Şişmanyan was the child of a tradesman (esnaf). Pol Şişmanyan had four years of schooling, at a community school (Millet Mektebi), and wrote Armenian, French and Turkish.
Work began in Istanbul in 1893/94, at about 24, with one unpaid year as a mülazım (apprentice) before a first salary of 250 kuruş. From 1894/95 to 1905/06 every annual entry places Pol Şişmanyan in Istanbul, first in the control office (Kontrol Kalemi), from 1897/98 in the accounts office (Muhasebe Kalemi).
The salary went from 250 kuruş a month in 1894/95 to 400 in 1905/06, the peak, in the Muhasebe Kalemi in Istanbul, when 38 per cent of paid officials earned less. Over 12 years the salaries add up to 42,480 kuruş, 60 per cent of what an official on the median salary earned. The final annual entry is for 1905/06. Pol Şişmanyan probably has an entry in "Sicill-i Ahval defterlerine göre Bursalı memurlar" by DERVİŞ ŞAFAK TOPRAK (2019) (the name, the birthplace and the archive register and second number 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 1869/70 (AH 1286)
First work 1893/94 (AH 1311); 1894 to 1906 (AH 1312 to 1323)
Kontrol Kalemi 1894 to 1897 (AH 1312 to 1314); Muhasebe Kalemi 1897 to 1906 (AH 1315 to 1323)
250 to 400 kuruş a month; entries in 12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1894/95 | 250 | 500 | 250 | 13% |
| 1895/96 | 250 | 500 | 150 | 13% |
| 1896/97 | 250 | 500 | 250 | 13% |
| 1897/98 | 250 | 500 | 275 | 14% |
| 1898/99 | 250 | 500 | 262.5 | 13% |
| 1899/1900 | 300 | 500 | 300 | 18% |
| 1900/01 | 300 | 500 | 300 | 18% |
| 1901/02 | 300 | 500 | 340 | 20% |
| 1902/03 | 320 | 500 | 350 | 28% |
| 1903/04 | 320 | 475 | 350 | 31% |
| 1904/05 | 350 | 450 | 375 | 32% |
| 1905/06 | 400 | 475 | 400 | 38% |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1893/94AH 1311 | First work | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 250first-salary field |
| 1894 to 1897AH 1312 to 1314 | Kontrol Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 250 |
| 1897 to 1906AH 1315 to 1323 | Muhasebe Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 250 to 400 |
Record#
Personal
- Born
- 1869/70 (AH 1286)
- Birthplace
- Bursa
- Community
- Armenian Christian (Ermeni)
- Nationality as recorded
- Ermeni
- Father's occupation
- Esnaf
Education
- Community school
- Millet Mektebi (4 years)community school (school of a non-Muslim community)
- 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
- Armenian
- Kitabetwriting
- French
- Kitabetwriting
- Turkish
- Kitabetwriting
The glosses are cautious historical readings of the recorded words, not modern levels of proficiency.
First work
- Year
- 1893/94 (AH 1311)
- Place
- Istanbul (Dersaadet)
- First salary field (kuruş a month)
- 250
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 Ahval defterlerine göre Bursalı memurlar (DERVİŞ ŞAFAK TOPRAK, 2019). Name as printed: Pol Şişmanyan Efendi. PDF pages 412 and 413.
Probable link: same name, birthplace and register and second number of the archive reference
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 1,071 officials with entries in Istanbul in the same years, Pol Şişmanyan had the 649th highest salary.
- Salahattin Bey12 shared years; highest salary 7,800 kuruş
- Suleyman Resat Bey12 shared years; highest salary 7,000 kuruş
- Mehmet Hayri Bey12 shared years; highest salary 5,500 kuruş
- Mehmet Asaf Bey12 shared years; highest salary 5,000 kuruş
- Melkok Efendi12 shared years; highest salary 5,000 kuruş
Same job title, same years
Of the 117 officials with the title Muhasebe Kalemi in the same years, Pol Şişmanyan had the 70th highest salary.
- Abdulgafur Hamit Efendi9 shared years; highest salary 1,500 kuruş
- Hüseyin Rıza Efendi9 shared years; highest salary 1,500 kuruş
- Refet Efendi9 shared years; highest salary 1,480 kuruş
- Cemal Efendi9 shared years; highest salary 1,200 kuruş
- Mehmet Şemsettin Efendi9 shared years; highest salary 1,000 kuruş
Same school
Of the 263 officials with Millet Mektebi among their schools, Pol Şişmanyan had the 168th highest salary.
- Mihran Odabaşıyan Efendiborn 1869/70 (AH 1286); highest salary 300 kuruş
- Setran Efendiborn 1869/70 (AH 1286); highest salary 600 kuruş
- Yaver Yorgi Efendiborn 1869/70 (AH 1286); highest salary 500 kuruş
- Antuan Efendiborn 1868/69 (AH 1285); highest salary 400 kuruş
- Balizar Efendiborn 1868/69 (AH 1285); highest salary 630 kuruş
Same birthplace
Of the 38 officials born in Bursa, Pol Şişmanyan had the 20th highest salary.
- MAZHAR EFENDİborn 1869/70 (AH 1286); highest salary 200 kuruş
- Mehmet Cavit Efendiborn 1869/70 (AH 1286); highest salary 600 kuruş
- Hüseyin Sabri Efendiborn 1868/69 (AH 1285); highest salary 450 kuruş
- Ahmet Nuri Efendiborn 1870/71 (AH 1287); highest salary 400 kuruş
- İbrahim Aski Efendiborn 1867/68 (AH 1284); highest salary 400 kuruş
First annual entry in the same year
Of the 173 officials whose first annual entry is for 1894/95 (AH 1312), Pol Şişmanyan had the 97th highest salary.
- Ahmet Necip Beyfirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 70 kuruş
- Mehmet Nazif Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 300 kuruş
- Ahmet Bahaattin Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 1,500 kuruş
- Ahmet Nazım Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 800 kuruş
- Aziz Mahmut Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 1,200 kuruş
Full record
Annual entries (12)
| Year | Title | Place | Kuruş a month | Institution | Source | Archive reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1894/95AH 1312 | Kontrol Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 250 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 70_80; 157 |
| 1895/96AH 1313 | Kontrol Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 250 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 70_80; 157 |
| 1896/97AH 1314 | Kontrol Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 250 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 70_80; 157 |
| 1897/98AH 1315 | Muhasebe Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 250 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 70_80; 157 |
| 1898/99AH 1316 | Muhasebe Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 250 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 70_80; 157 |
| 1899/1900AH 1317 | Muhasebe Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 300 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 70_80; 157 |
| 1900/01AH 1318 | Muhasebe Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 300 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 70_80; 157 |
| 1901/02AH 1319 | Muhasebe Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 300 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 70_80; 157 |
| 1902/03AH 1320 | Muhasebe Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 320 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 70_80; 157 |
| 1903/04AH 1321 | Muhasebe Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 320 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 70_80; 157 |
| 1904/05AH 1322 | Muhasebe Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 350 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 70_80; 157 |
| 1905/06AH 1323 | Muhasebe Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 400 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 70_80; 157 |
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 | Pol Şişmanyan | Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Birth year (AH) | 1286 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Birthplace | bursa | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Province of birth | hudavendigar | 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 | Hristiyan | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Nationality or community | Ermeni | 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) | 1 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| First work | ||
| First work: year (AH) | 1311 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| First work: Gregorian year as stored | 1893 | 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) | 250 | 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.
- 12 annual entries of 12 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
- Pol Şişmanyan
- Accounts office (Muhasebe Kalemi)
- Istanbul (Dersaadet)
- Bursa
- Community school (Millet Mektebi)
- Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf)
- Armenian Christian (Ermeni)
- 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)