Official
Mehmet Arif Efendi
Muslim (Müslüman). Born in Gaziantep (Antep) in 1874/75 (AH 1291). On record 1890 to 1897, 7 annual entries.
Archive reference 0086_0171: 337
Life#
Born in Gaziantep (Antep) in 1874/75 (AH 1291), Mehmet Arif Efendi came from the Muslim (Müslüman) community. Mehmet Arif had seven years of schooling, at a middle school (Rüşdiye Mektebi).
Work began in Gaziantep in 1886/87, at about 13, with four unpaid years as a mülazım (apprentice) before a first salary of 400 kuruş. Fewer than 6 per cent of the 5,128 officials whose age at first work is known began work at 13 or younger. From 1890/91 to 1896/97 every annual entry places Mehmet Arif in Aleppo (Halep), first as a communications official (Muhabere Memuru), from 1891/92 in the clerkship of the chief director's office (Başmüdür Kitabeti).
The salary went from 400 kuruş a month in 1890/91 to 615 in 1896/97, the peak, in the Başmüdür Kitabeti in Aleppo, when three in four paid officials earned less. The final annual entry is for 1896/97. Mehmet Arif probably has an entry in "Meşîhat Arşivi'ne göre Osmanlı'nın son döneminde Ayntablı ilmiye sınıfı" by OĞUZ ÖLMEZ (2021) (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 1874/75 (AH 1291); First work 1886/87 (AH 1304)
1890 to 1897 (AH 1308 to 1314)
Muhabere Memuru 1890/91 (AH 1308); Başmüdür Kitabeti 1891 to 1897 (AH 1309 to 1314)
400 to 615 kuruş a month; entries in 7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1890/91 | 400 | 500 | 400 | 28% |
| 1891/92 | 600 | 500 | 550 | 59% |
| 1892/93 | 600 | 500 | 600 | 59% |
| 1893/94 | 600 | 500 | 600 | 60% |
| 1894/95 | 600 | 500 | 600 | 60% |
| 1895/96 | 600 | 500 | 600 | 59% |
| 1896/97 | 615 | 500 | 600 | 75% |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1886/87AH 1304 | First work | Gaziantep (Antep) | 400first-salary field |
| 1890/91AH 1308 | Muhabere Memuru | Aleppo (Halep) | 400 |
| 1891 to 1897AH 1309 to 1314 | Başmüdür Kitabeti | Aleppo (Halep) | 600 to 615 |
Record#
Personal
- Born
- 1874/75 (AH 1291)
- Birthplace
- Gaziantep (Antep)
- Community
- Muslim (Müslüman)
- Nationality as recorded
- Turkish
Education
- Rüşdiye
- Rüşdiye Mektebi (7 years)rüşdiye school (middle school)
- Unpaid years (mülazemet)
- 4 years
- Preparation route (classification of the paper)
- Low
- Qualification (diploma, certificate, training or nişan)
- No
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
- 1886/87 (AH 1304)
- Place
- Gaziantep (Antep)
- First salary field (kuruş a month)
- 400
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.
Meşîhat Arşivi'ne göre Osmanlı'nın son döneminde Ayntablı ilmiye sınıfı (OĞUZ ÖLMEZ, 2021). Name as printed: Mehmed Arif Efendi. PDF pages 48 and 49.
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 73 officials with entries in Aleppo (Halep) in the same years, Mehmet Arif Efendi had the 41st highest salary.
- İbrahim Ethem Efendi7 shared years; highest salary 2,800 kuruş
- Hacı Mehmet Reşit Efendi7 shared years; highest salary 2,000 kuruş
- Kostantin De Martin Efendi7 shared years; highest salary 1,500 kuruş
- İsmail Nuri Efendi7 shared years; highest salary 1,000 kuruş
- Musa Kazım Efendi7 shared years; highest salary 800 kuruş
Same job title, same years
Of the 53 officials with the title Başmüdür Kitabeti in the same years, Mehmet Arif Efendi had the 38th highest salary.
- Mustafa Esir Efendi6 shared years; highest salary 1,600 kuruş
- Ali Rıza Efendi6 shared years; highest salary 1,200 kuruş
- Abdullah Efendi6 shared years; highest salary 1,000 kuruş
- Ali Rıza Efendi6 shared years; highest salary 910 kuruş
- David Efendi6 shared years; highest salary 820 kuruş
Same school
Of the 3,206 officials with Rüşdiye Mektebi among their schools, 3,200 have a recorded salary; Mehmet Arif Efendi had the 849th highest salary of them.
- Abdülgani Efendiborn 1874/75 (AH 1291); highest salary 200 kuruş
- Abdullah Halit Efendiborn 1874/75 (AH 1291); highest salary 1,000 kuruş
- Abdullah Kemal Beyborn 1874/75 (AH 1291); highest salary 100 kuruş
- Abdullah Kemal Beyborn 1874/75 (AH 1291); highest salary 800 kuruş
- Abdurrahman Tahsin Efendiborn 1874/75 (AH 1291); highest salary 500 kuruş
Same birthplace
Of the 4 officials born in Gaziantep (Antep), Mehmet Arif Efendi had the 2nd highest salary.
- Ali Rıza Efendiborn 1873/74 (AH 1290); highest salary 300 kuruş
- Ahmet Midhat Efendiborn 1879/80 (AH 1297); highest salary 500 kuruş
- Kadri Paşaborn 1832/33 (AH 1248); highest salary 5,000 kuruş
The page of Gaziantep (Antep), with the 4 officials born there
First annual entry in the same year
Of the 102 officials whose first annual entry is for 1890/91 (AH 1308), Mehmet Arif Efendi had the 41st highest salary.
- Ahmet Salih Efendifirst entry in Aleppo (Halep); highest salary 900 kuruş
- Balizar Efendifirst entry in Aleppo (Halep); highest salary 630 kuruş
- Mehmet Cudi Efendifirst entry in Aleppo (Halep); highest salary 540 kuruş
- Cafer Sadık Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 70 kuruş
- Hacı Mahmut Ziya Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 175 kuruş
Full record
Annual entries (7)
| Year | Title | Place | Kuruş a month | Institution | Source | Archive reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1890/91AH 1308 | Muhabere Memuru | Aleppo (Halep) | 400 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0086_0171: 337 |
| 1891/92AH 1309 | Başmüdür Kitabeti | Aleppo (Halep) | 600 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0086_0171: 337 |
| 1892/93AH 1310 | Başmüdür Kitabeti | Aleppo (Halep) | 600 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0086_0171: 337 |
| 1893/94AH 1311 | Başmüdür Kitabeti | Aleppo (Halep) | 600 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0086_0171: 337 |
| 1894/95AH 1312 | Başmüdür Kitabeti | Aleppo (Halep) | 600 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0086_0171: 337 |
| 1895/96AH 1313 | Başmüdür Kitabeti | Aleppo (Halep) | 600 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0086_0171: 337 |
| 1896/97AH 1314 | Başmüdür Kitabeti | Aleppo (Halep) | 615 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0086_0171: 337 |
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 (13)
| Field | Recorded value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | ||
| Name | Mehmet Arif Efendi | Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Birth year (AH) | 1291 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Birthplace | antep | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Province of birth | halep | 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 | Rusdiye Mektebi | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Years of schooling | 7 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Years of apprenticeship (mülazemet) | 4 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| First work | ||
| First work: year (AH) | 1304 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| First work: Gregorian year as stored | 1887 | Recovered annual personnel extract |
| First work: place | Antep | 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 |
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.
- 7 annual entries of 7 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 Arif Efendi
- Clerkship of the chief director's office (Başmüdür Kitabeti)
- Aleppo (Halep)
- Gaziantep (Antep)
- Rüşdiye school (Rüşdiye 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)