Official
Mehmet Mazhar Efendi
Muslim (Müslüman). Born in Istanbul (Dersaadet) in 1873/74 (AH 1290). On record 1891 to 1899, 8 annual entries. Death recorded 1899/1900.
Archive reference 0062_0249; 493
Life#
Mehmet Mazhar Efendi was born in Istanbul in 1873/74 (AH 1290) into the Muslim (Müslüman) community; the father was a medrese teacher (müderris). Schooling took seven years, at a middle school (Rüşdiye Mektebi).
Mehmet Mazhar began work in Istanbul in 1886/87, at about 14, with five unpaid years as a mülazım (apprentice) before a first salary of 70 kuruş. The first annual entry, for 1891/92, places Mehmet Mazhar in Istanbul, the birthplace, as a letters official (Mekâtib Memuru). Mehmet Mazhar then moved to Üsküdar, Geyve and Blagoevgrad (Yukarı Cuma) from 1893 to 1896, with a rise to communications official (Muhabere Memuru) in 1893/94. The last posts were in Sana'a (Sana) from 1896 to 1899. Sana'a, about 3,200 km from Istanbul, was the post farthest from the birthplace; fewer than 2 per cent of the 5,162 officials with a known birthplace and place of service served as far from home.
Pay rose from 70 kuruş a month in 1891/92 to a peak of 675 in 1896/97, as Muhabere Memuru in Sana'a, when 77 per cent of paid officials earned less. After the last annual entry, for 1898/99, the list of 1899/1900 (AH 1317) gives the status word Vefat (death).
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 1886/87 (AH 1304); 1891 to 1893 (AH 1309 to 1310)
70 to 100 kuruş a month; entries in 2 years
Death recorded in the annual list of 1899/1900 (AH 1317): the word Vefat, not a date of death.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1891/92 | 70 | 500 | 250 | 2% |
| 1892/93 | 100 | 500 | 450 | 3% |
| 1893/94 | 400 | 500 | 400 | 30% |
| 1894/95 | 400 | 500 | 400 | 30% |
| 1895/96 | 400 | 500 | 400 | 30% |
| 1896/97 | 675 | 500 | 400 | 77% |
| 1897/98 | 675 | 500 | 400 | 77% |
| 1898/99 | 675 | 500 | 400 | 76% |
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 | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 70first-salary field |
| 1891 to 1893AH 1309 to 1310 | Mekâtib Memuru | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 70 to 100 |
| 1893/94AH 1311 | Muhabere Memuru | Üsküdar | 400 |
| 1894/95AH 1312 | Muhabere Memuru | Geyve | 400 |
| 1895/96AH 1313 | Muhabere Memuru | Blagoevgrad (Yukarı Cuma) | 400 |
| 1896 to 1899AH 1314 to 1316 | Muhabere Memuru | Sana'a (Sana) | 675 |
| 1899/1900AH 1317 | Death recorded | ||
Record#
Personal
- Born
- 1873/74 (AH 1290)
- Birthplace
- Istanbul (Dersaadet)
- Community
- Muslim (Müslüman)
- Nationality as recorded
- Turkish
- Father's occupation
- Muderris
- Death recorded
- 1899/1900 (AH 1317)the year of the annual list with the word Vefat, not a date of death
Education
- Rüşdiye
- Rüşdiye Mektebi (7 years)rüşdiye school (middle school)
- Unpaid years (mülazemet)
- 5 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
- Istanbul (Dersaadet)
- First salary field (kuruş a month)
- 70
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 2 officials with entries in Sana'a (Sana) in the same years, Mehmet Mazhar Efendi had the lowest salary.
- Ali Bey3 shared years; highest salary 2,000 kuruş
Same job title, same years
Of the 1,313 officials with the title Muhabere Memuru in the same years, Mehmet Mazhar Efendi had the 337th highest salary.
- Mehmet Arif Efendi6 shared years; highest salary 3,600 kuruş
- Mehmet Hulusi Bey6 shared years; highest salary 2,600 kuruş
- Ali Galip Efendi6 shared years; highest salary 2,500 kuruş
- Mustafa Fazıl Bey6 shared years; highest salary 1,700 kuruş
- Mehmet Sadullah Efendi6 shared years; highest salary 1,650 kuruş
Same school
Of the 3,206 officials with Rüşdiye Mektebi among their schools, 3,200 have a recorded salary; Mehmet Mazhar Efendi had the 794th 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 Mazhar Efendi had the 749th 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 136 officials whose first annual entry is for 1891/92 (AH 1309), Mehmet Mazhar Efendi had the 38th highest salary.
- Ali Kemal Beyfirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 500 kuruş
- Fahrettin Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 400 kuruş
- Halit Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 500 kuruş
- Halit Tosun Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 270 kuruş
- İbrahim İhsan Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 250 kuruş
Full record
Annual entries (8)
| Year | Title | Place | Kuruş a month | Institution | Source | Archive reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1891/92AH 1309 | Mekâtib Memuru | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 70 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0062_0249; 493 |
| 1892/93AH 1310 | Mekâtib Memuru | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 100 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0062_0249; 493 |
| 1893/94AH 1311 | Muhabere Memuru | Üsküdar | 400 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0062_0249; 493 |
| 1894/95AH 1312 | Muhabere Memuru | Geyve | 400 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0062_0249; 493 |
| 1895/96AH 1313 | Muhabere Memuru | Blagoevgrad (Yukarı Cuma) | 400 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0062_0249; 493 |
| 1896/97AH 1314 | Muhabere Memuru | Sana'a (Sana) | 675 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0062_0249; 493 |
| 1897/98AH 1315 | Muhabere Memuru | Sana'a (Sana) | 675 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0062_0249; 493 |
| 1898/99AH 1316 | Muhabere Memuru | Sana'a (Sana) | 675 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0062_0249; 493 |
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 Mazhar 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 | muderris | 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) | 5 | 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 | istanbul | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| First salary field (kuruş a month) | 70 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Status | ||
| Death recorded under the year (AH) | 1317 | Earlier annual personnel extract (original copy); Earlier annual personnel extract (parallel copy) |
What the sources named in this table are
- Earlier annual personnel extract (original copy)
- A copy of the earlier annual personnel file, read for the title wording of each year. A death taken from it is the status word Vefat in the title field of one annual list: the year is the year of that list, not a date of death.
- Earlier annual personnel extract (parallel copy)
- A second copy of the earlier annual personnel file, read in the same way. A death taken from it is the status word Vefat in the title field of one annual list: the year is the year of that list, not a date of death. Two copies that agree are one piece of evidence, not two.
- 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.
- 8 annual entries of 8 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 Mazhar Efendi
- Communications official (Muhabere Memuru)
- Sana'a (Sana)
- 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)