Mehmed Reşad Bey

Mehmed Reşad Bey was born in Shkodër (İşkodra) in 1847/48 (AH 1264). Work began in Shkodër in 1866/67, at about 18. The first annual entry, for 1866/67, places Mehmed Reşad in Shkodër, the birthplace, as Tahrirat Kalemi mülazımı, where the entries run to 1871/72. Next came Istanbul from 1872 to 1881. Alongside, the lists for 1880 to 1882 give a second post, in Konya as Rüsum-ı Sitte nazırı. At the same time, from 1881 to 1884, the lists also place Mehmed Reşad in Samsun as Rüsum-ı Sitte nazırı. Mehmed Reşad then moved back to Istanbul from 1884 to 1910. Alongside, the lists for 1901/02 give a second post, in a post with no place named as Halkalı Ziraat Mektebi Kitabet-i Resmiye muallimi (İstifa). The last post was in Istanbul again in 1909/10. Few careers in the lists are as long; fewer than 3 per cent of the 8,239 officials have entries spanning 45 years or more.

Pay rose from 300 kuruş a month in 1868/69 to a peak of 4,500 in 1880/81, in Konya, when 97 per cent of paid officials earned less. In all, 43 years of salary come to 1,306,080 kuruş, 6.1 times what an official on the median salary earned in those years, a level reached by fewer than 4 per cent of the 4,381 officials paid for five years or more. The final annual entry is for 1909/10.