Official
Mehmet Rıfat Efendi
Muslim (Müslüman). Born in Istanbul (Dersaadet) in 1873/74 (AH 1290). On record 1893 to 1906, 13 annual entries.
Archive reference 0065_0175; 347
Life#
Mehmet Rıfat Efendi was born in Istanbul in 1873/74 (AH 1290), into the Muslim (Müslüman) community. Schooling took 12 years, at Darüşşafaka, the school for orphans in Istanbul; Mehmet Rıfat also attended the telegraph school, wrote French as well as Turkish and held a qualification (a diploma, certificate, training or decoration).
Work began in Istanbul in 1893/94, at about 20, paid from the start, on 400 kuruş a month. From 1893/94 to 1905/06 every annual entry places Mehmet Rıfat in Istanbul, the birthplace, first in the Muhendis Kalemi, from 1900/01 as a chief official (Başmemur) and from 1902/03 in the Muhendis Kalemi.
The salary went from 400 kuruş a month in 1893/94 to 1,000 in 1900/01, the peak, as Başmemur in Istanbul, when 87 per cent of paid officials earned less. In all, 13 years of salary come to 120,060 kuruş, 1.6 times what an official on the median salary earned in those years. The last annual entry is for 1905/06.
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, and the median of the same province for the years in which at least 5 officials were paid in the province of the official's salary that year.
The numbers of the chart
| Year | Salary | Median, all officials | Median, same title | Median, same province | Paid less |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1893/94 | 400 | 500 | 400 | 480 | 30% |
| 1894/95 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 450 | 46% |
| 1895/96 | 650 | 500 | 425 | 440 | 72% |
| 1896/97 | 585 | 500 | 425 | 425 | 72% |
| 1897/98 | 585 | 500 | 450 | 425 | 72% |
| 1898/99 | 585 | 500 | 517.5 | 440 | 71% |
| 1899/1900 | 700 | 500 | 700 | 450 | 77% |
| 1900/01 | 1,000 | 500 | 1,000 | 450 | 87% |
| 1901/02 | 1,000 | 500 | 1,000 | 440 | 87% |
| 1902/03 | 1,000 | 500 | 725 | 450 | 87% |
| 1903/04 | 1,000 | 475 | 750 | 450 | 87% |
| 1904/05 | 1,000 | 450 | 450 | 87% | |
| 1905/06 | 1,000 | 475 | 425 | 86% |
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) | 400first-salary field |
| 1893 to 1900AH 1311 to 1317 | Muhendis Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 400 to 700 |
| 1900 to 1902AH 1318 to 1319 | Başmemur | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 1,000 |
| 1902 to 1906AH 1320 to 1323 | Muhendis Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 1,000 |
Record#
Personal
- Born
- 1873/74 (AH 1290)
- Birthplace
- Istanbul (Dersaadet)
- Community
- Muslim (Müslüman)
- Nationality as recorded
- Turkish
Education
- Darüşşafaka
- Darüşşafaka (12 years)Darüşşafaka (school for orphans in Istanbul)
- Higher or professional
- Telgraf Mektebitelegraph school; recorded as a code
- Unpaid years (mülazemet)
- 0 years
- Preparation route (classification of the paper)
- Darüşşafaka
- Qualification (diploma, certificate, training or nişan)
- Yes
The years count all schooling up to that school, as the record gives them.
Languages
- 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)
- 400
Legal records
- Years (AH) with a criminal-record mark in the annual records
- 1316; 1317; 1319; 1321; 1323
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 post (job title and place), same years
Of the 13 officials who held Muhendis Kalemi in Istanbul in the same years, Mehmet Rıfat Efendi had the 7th highest salary.
- Unnamed official (0087_0145, sayfa no:287.)11 shared years; highest salary 900 kuruş
- Mustafa Naili Efendi10 shared years; highest salary 700 kuruş
- Abdullah Kemal Bey8 shared years; highest salary 800 kuruş
- Ali Fuat Bey7 shared years; highest salary 500 kuruş
- Mehmet Münir Efendi6 shared years; highest salary 750 kuruş
Same place, same years
Of the 1,104 officials with entries in Istanbul in the same years, Mehmet Rıfat Efendi had the 236th highest salary.
- Salahattin Bey13 shared years; highest salary 7,800 kuruş
- Suleyman Resat Bey13 shared years; highest salary 7,000 kuruş
- Mehmet Hayri Bey13 shared years; highest salary 5,500 kuruş
- Mehmet Asaf Bey13 shared years; highest salary 5,000 kuruş
- Melkok Efendi13 shared years; highest salary 5,000 kuruş
Same job title, same years
Of the 13 officials with the title Muhendis Kalemi in the same years, Mehmet Rıfat Efendi had the 7th highest salary.
- Unnamed official (0087_0145, sayfa no:287.)11 shared years; highest salary 900 kuruş
- Mustafa Naili Efendi10 shared years; highest salary 700 kuruş
- Abdullah Kemal Bey8 shared years; highest salary 800 kuruş
- Ali Fuat Bey7 shared years; highest salary 500 kuruş
- Mehmet Münir Efendi6 shared years; highest salary 750 kuruş
Same school
Of the 203 officials with Darüşşafaka among their schools, Mehmet Rıfat Efendi had the 36th highest salary.
- Abdülaziz Efendiborn 1873/74 (AH 1290); highest salary 450 kuruş
- Abdullah Zühdü Efendiborn 1873/74 (AH 1290); highest salary 400 kuruş
- Abdürrahim Haşim Efendiborn 1873/74 (AH 1290); highest salary 750 kuruş
- Ahmet Mahmut Efendiborn 1873/74 (AH 1290); highest salary 800 kuruş
- Ethem Tevfik Efendiborn 1873/74 (AH 1290); highest salary 1,500 kuruş
Same birthplace
Of the 1,999 officials born in Istanbul, 1,997 have a recorded salary; Mehmet Rıfat Efendi had the 354th highest salary of them.
- Abdullah Zühdü Efendiborn 1873/74 (AH 1290); highest salary 400 kuruş
- Abdülvahap Efendiborn 1873/74 (AH 1290); highest salary 750 kuruş
- Abdürrahim Haşim Efendiborn 1873/74 (AH 1290); highest salary 750 kuruş
- Ahmet Efendiborn 1873/74 (AH 1290); highest salary 100 kuruş
- Ahmet Fuat Efendiborn 1873/74 (AH 1290); highest salary 800 kuruş
First annual entry in the same year
Of the 162 officials whose first annual entry is for 1893/94 (AH 1311), Mehmet Rıfat Efendi had the 12th highest salary.
- Ahmet Şakir Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 400 kuruş
- Hasan Fehmi Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 500 kuruş
- Mehmet Salih Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 600 kuruş
- Mustafa Şemsi Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 375 kuruş
- Omer Halim Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 700 kuruş
Full record
Annual entries (13)
| Year | Title | Place | Kuruş a month | Institution | Source | Archive reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1893/94AH 1311 | Muhendis Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 400 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0065_0175; 347 |
| 1894/95AH 1312 | Muhendis Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 500 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0065_0175; 347 |
| 1895/96AH 1313 | Muhendis Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 650 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0065_0175; 347 |
| 1896/97AH 1314 | Muhendis Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 585 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0065_0175; 347 |
| 1897/98AH 1315 | Muhendis Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 585 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0065_0175; 347 |
| 1898/99AH 1316 | Muhendis Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 585 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0065_0175; 347 |
| 1899/1900AH 1317 | Muhendis Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 700 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0065_0175; 347 |
| 1900/01AH 1318 | Başmemur | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 1,000 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0065_0175; 347 |
| 1901/02AH 1319 | Başmemur | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 1,000 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0065_0175; 347 |
| 1902/03AH 1320 | Muhendis Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 1,000 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0065_0175; 347 |
| 1903/04AH 1321 | Muhendis Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 1,000 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0065_0175; 347 |
| 1904/05AH 1322 | Muhendis Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 1,000 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0065_0175; 347 |
| 1905/06AH 1323 | Muhendis Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 1,000 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0065_0175; 347 |
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 | Mehmet Rıfat Efendi | Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Birth year (AH) | 1290 | 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 |
| 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 | Darussafaka | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Years of schooling | 12 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Telegraph school (recorded code) | 1 | Recovered annual personnel 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) | 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) | 400 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Legal records | ||
| Years (AH) with a criminal-record mark in the annual records | 1316; 1317; 1319; 1321; 1323 | Later annual personnel extract |
What the sources named in this table are
- Later annual personnel extract
- The detailed annual personnel file of October 2025. It marks single annual entries with a criminal-record flag and holds status words such as Vefat. For a death, the year is the year of the annual list in which the status word stands.
- 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.
- 13 annual entries of 13 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 Rıfat Efendi
- Muhendis Kalemi
- Istanbul (Dersaadet)
- Darüşşafaka
- Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf)
- Muslim (Müslüman)
- Chief official (Başmemur)
- 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)