Official
Mehmet Akif Efendi
Muslim (Müslüman). Born in Istanbul (Dersaadet) in 1873/74 (AH 1290). On record 1895 to 1907, 12 annual entries.
Archive reference 90_85; 167
Life#
Born in Istanbul in 1873/74 (AH 1290) into the Muslim (Müslüman) community, Mehmet Akif Efendi was the child of an army major (binbaşı). Mehmet Akif had seven years of schooling, at a middle school (Rüşdiye Mektebi).
Work began in Gebze in 1895/96, at about 22, paid from the start, on 200 kuruş a month. The first annual entry, for 1895/96, places Mehmet Akif in Gebze as a communications official (Muhabere Memuru). Mehmet Akif then moved to Çengelköy from 1896 to 1899, then back to Istanbul, the birthplace, from 1899 to 1902. The last posts were in Çengelköy again from 1902 to 1907.
The salary went from 200 kuruş a month in 1895/96 to 450 in 1906/07, the peak, as Muhabere Memuru in Çengelköy, when half the paid officials earned less. In all, 12 years of salary come to 41,160 kuruş, 58 per cent of what an official on the median salary earned in those years. The last annual entry is for 1906/07.
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 1873/74 (AH 1290)
First work 1895/96 (AH 1313); 1895/96 (AH 1313)
200 kuruş a month; entries in 1 year
1899 to 1902 (AH 1317 to 1319)
250 to 280 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1895/96 | 200 | 500 | 400 | 9% |
| 1896/97 | 200 | 500 | 400 | 8% |
| 1897/98 | 200 | 500 | 400 | 9% |
| 1898/99 | 250 | 500 | 400 | 13% |
| 1899/1900 | 250 | 500 | 400 | 12% |
| 1900/01 | 280 | 500 | 400 | 17% |
| 1901/02 | 280 | 500 | 400 | 19% |
| 1902/03 | 330 | 500 | 380 | 29% |
| 1903/04 | 330 | 475 | 350 | 31% |
| 1904/05 | 330 | 450 | 350 | 32% |
| 1905/06 | 330 | 475 | 330 | 32% |
| 1906/07 | 450 | 450 | 300 | 49% |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1895/96AH 1313 | First work | Gebze | 200first-salary field |
| 1895/96AH 1313 | Muhabere Memuru | Gebze | 200 |
| 1896 to 1899AH 1314 to 1316 | Muhabere Memuru | Çengelköy | 200 to 250 |
| 1899 to 1902AH 1317 to 1319 | Muhabere Memuru | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 250 to 280 |
| 1902 to 1907AH 1320 to 1324 | Muhabere Memuru | Çengelköy | 330 to 450 |
Record#
Personal
- Born
- 1873/74 (AH 1290)
- Birthplace
- Istanbul (Dersaadet)
- Community
- Muslim (Müslüman)
- Nationality as recorded
- Turkish
- Father's occupation
- Binbasi
Education
- Rüşdiye
- Rüşdiye Mektebi (7 years)rüşdiye school (middle school)
- Unpaid years (mülazemet)
- 0 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
- 1895/96 (AH 1313)
- Place
- Gebze
- First salary field (kuruş a month)
- 200
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 3 officials with entries in Çengelköy in the same years, Mehmet Akif Efendi had the lowest salary.
- Mehmet Rifat Efendi4 shared years; highest salary 600 kuruş
- İsmail Kadri Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 500 kuruş
Same job title, same years
Of the 1,918 officials with the title Muhabere Memuru in the same years, Mehmet Akif Efendi had the 1,016th highest salary.
- Mehmet Hulusi Bey12 shared years; highest salary 2,600 kuruş
- Mustafa Fazıl Bey12 shared years; highest salary 1,700 kuruş
- Mehmet Sadullah Efendi12 shared years; highest salary 1,650 kuruş
- Mehmet Asım Efendi12 shared years; highest salary 1,550 kuruş
- Nikola Yunani Efendi12 shared years; highest salary 1,350 kuruş
Same school
Of the 3,206 officials with Rüşdiye Mektebi among their schools, 3,200 have a recorded salary; Mehmet Akif Efendi had the 1,658th highest salary of them.
- Abbas Rüştü Efendiborn 1873/74 (AH 1290); highest salary 1,500 kuruş
- Abdülaziz Efendiborn 1873/74 (AH 1290); highest salary 750 kuruş
- Abdülbaki Efendiborn 1873/74 (AH 1290); highest salary 400 kuruş
- Abdülkerim Efendiborn 1873/74 (AH 1290); highest salary 675 kuruş
- Abdullah Efendiborn 1873/74 (AH 1290); highest salary 720 kuruş
Same birthplace
Of the 1,999 officials born in Istanbul, 1,997 have a recorded salary; Mehmet Akif Efendi had the 1,155th 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 183 officials whose first annual entry is for 1895/96 (AH 1313), 182 have a recorded salary; Mehmet Akif Efendi had the 86th highest salary of them.
- İbrahim Ethem Efendifirst entry in Gebze; highest salary 400 kuruş
- Abdüssabur Sabri Efendifirst entry in Thessaloniki (Selanik); highest salary 400 kuruş
- Ali Rıza Efendifirst entry in Damascus (Şam); highest salary 800 kuruş
- Ali Rıza Efendifirst entry in Sivas; highest salary 500 kuruş
- Feyzullah Raif Efendifirst entry in Diyarbakır; highest salary 350 kuruş
Full record
Annual entries (12)
| Year | Title | Place | Kuruş a month | Institution | Source | Archive reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1895/96AH 1313 | Muhabere Memuru | Gebze | 200 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 90_85; 167 |
| 1896/97AH 1314 | Muhabere Memuru | Çengelköy | 200 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 90_85; 167 |
| 1897/98AH 1315 | Muhabere Memuru | Çengelköy | 200 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 90_85; 167 |
| 1898/99AH 1316 | Muhabere Memuru | Çengelköy | 250 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 90_85; 167 |
| 1899/1900AH 1317 | Muhabere Memuru | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 250 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 90_85; 167 |
| 1900/01AH 1318 | Muhabere Memuru | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 280 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 90_85; 167 |
| 1901/02AH 1319 | Muhabere Memuru | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 280 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 90_85; 167 |
| 1902/03AH 1320 | Muhabere Memuru | Çengelköy | 330 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 90_85; 167 |
| 1903/04AH 1321 | Muhabere Memuru | Çengelköy | 330 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 90_85; 167 |
| 1904/05AH 1322 | Muhabere Memuru | Çengelköy | 330 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 90_85; 167 |
| 1905/06AH 1323 | Muhabere Memuru | Çengelköy | 330 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 90_85; 167 |
| 1906/07AH 1324 | Muhabere Memuru | Çengelköy | 450 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 90_85; 167 |
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 | Mehmet Akif 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 |
| Father's occupation | Binbasi | 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) | 0 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| First work | ||
| First work: year (AH) | 1313 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| First work: Gregorian year as stored | 1895 | Recovered annual personnel extract |
| First work: place | Gebze | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| First salary field (kuruş a month) | 200 | 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.
- 11 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
- Mehmet Akif Efendi
- Communications official (Muhabere Memuru)
- Çengelköy
- Istanbul (Dersaadet)
- 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)