Official
Mehmet Tahir Efendi
Muslim (Müslüman). Born in Istanbul (Dersaadet) in 1878/79 (AH 1296). On record 1901 to 1907, 5 annual entries.
Archive reference 116_77; 151
Life#
Born in Istanbul in 1878/79 (AH 1296), Mehmet Tahir Efendi came from the Muslim (Müslüman) community; the father was a telegraph official (telgraf memuru). Mehmet Tahir had seven years of schooling, at a middle school (Rüşdiye Mektebi), and held a qualification (a diploma, certificate, training or decoration).
Work began in Konitsa (Koniçe) in 1896/97, at about 17, with five unpaid years as a mülazım (apprentice) before a first salary of 230 kuruş. The first annual entry, for 1901/02, places Mehmet Tahir in Kočani (Koçana) as a communications official (Muhabere Memuru), where the entries run to 1903/04. The last posts were in Skopje in 1904/05 and Trabzon in 1906/07.
Pay rose from 230 kuruş a month in 1901/02 to a peak of 300 in 1906/07, as Muhabere Memuru in Trabzon, when one in four paid officials earned less. In all, five years of salary come to 14,880 kuruş, 52 per cent of what an official on the median salary earned in those years. The final 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 1878/79 (AH 1296)
First work 1896/97 (AH 1314)
1906/07 (AH 1324)
No annual entry for 1905/06 (AH 1323) before it.
300 kuruş a month; entries in 1 year
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1901/02 | 230 | 500 | 400 | 13% |
| 1902/03 | 230 | 500 | 380 | 14% |
| 1903/04 | 230 | 475 | 350 | 13% |
| 1904/05 | 250 | 450 | 350 | 14% |
| 1906/07 | 300 | 450 | 300 | 25% |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1896/97AH 1314 | First work | Konitsa (Koniçe) | 230first-salary field |
| 1901 to 1904AH 1319 to 1321 | Muhabere Memuru | Kočani (Koçana) | 230 |
| 1904/05AH 1322 | Muhabere Memuru | Skopje (Üsküp) | 250 |
| No annual entry: 1905/06 (AH 1323) | |||
| 1906/07AH 1324 | Muhabere Memuru | Trabzon | 300 |
Record#
Personal
- Born
- 1878/79 (AH 1296)
- Birthplace
- Istanbul (Dersaadet)
- Community
- Muslim (Müslüman)
- Nationality as recorded
- Turkish
- Father's occupation
- Telgraf Memuru
Education
- Rüşdiye
- Rüşdiye Mektebi (7 years)rüşdiye school (middle school)
- Unpaid years (mülazemet)
- 5 years
- Preparation route (classification of the paper)
- Middle
- Qualification (diploma, certificate, training or nişan)
- Yes
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
- 1896/97 (AH 1314)
- Place
- Konitsa (Koniçe)
- First salary field (kuruş a month)
- 230
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 Kočani (Koçana) in the same years, Mehmet Tahir Efendi had the lowest salary.
- Ahmet Kâşif Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 600 kuruş
- Hasan Rıza Efendi1 shared year; highest salary 400 kuruş
Same job title, same years
Of the 1,423 officials with the title Muhabere Memuru in the same years, Mehmet Tahir Efendi had the 962nd highest salary.
- Mehmet Hulusi Bey5 shared years; highest salary 2,600 kuruş
- Mustafa Fazıl Bey5 shared years; highest salary 1,700 kuruş
- Mehmet Sadullah Efendi5 shared years; highest salary 1,650 kuruş
- Mehmet Asım Efendi5 shared years; highest salary 1,550 kuruş
- Nikola Yunani Efendi5 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 Tahir Efendi had the 2,211th highest salary of them.
- Abdülcabbar Efendiborn 1878/79 (AH 1296); highest salary 350 kuruş
- Abdülkadir Zihni Efendiborn 1878/79 (AH 1296); highest salary 300 kuruş
- Abdullah Vahdi Efendiborn 1878/79 (AH 1296); highest salary 500 kuruş
- Ahmed Refik Efendiborn 1878/79 (AH 1296); highest salary 350 kuruş
- Ahmet Celalettin Efendiborn 1878/79 (AH 1296); highest salary 700 kuruş
Same birthplace
Of the 1,999 officials born in Istanbul, 1,997 have a recorded salary; Mehmet Tahir Efendi had the 1,419th highest salary of them.
- Ahmed Refik Efendiborn 1878/79 (AH 1296); highest salary 350 kuruş
- Ahmet Bahaettin Efendiborn 1878/79 (AH 1296); highest salary 150 kuruş
- Ahmet Halit Efendiborn 1878/79 (AH 1296); highest salary 600 kuruş
- Ahmet Hulusi Efendiborn 1878/79 (AH 1296); highest salary 380 kuruş
- AHMET KEMAL EFENDİborn 1878/79 (AH 1296); highest salary 290 kuruş
First annual entry in the same year
Of the 131 officials whose first annual entry is for 1901/02 (AH 1319), Mehmet Tahir Efendi had the 76th highest salary.
- Alaaddin Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 100 kuruş
- Alber Aziz Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 1,500 kuruş
- Hüseyin Hüsnü Efendifirst entry in Ioannina (Yanya); highest salary 300 kuruş
- İSAK SOLAM EFENDİfirst entry in Beyoğlu; highest salary 480 kuruş
- İsmail Hakkı Efendifirst entry in Bitola (Manastır); highest salary 300 kuruş
Full record
Annual entries (5)
| Year | Title | Place | Kuruş a month | Institution | Source | Archive reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1901/02AH 1319 | Muhabere Memuru | Kočani (Koçana) | 230 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 116_77; 151 |
| 1902/03AH 1320 | Muhabere Memuru | Kočani (Koçana) | 230 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 116_77; 151 |
| 1903/04AH 1321 | Muhabere Memuru | Kočani (Koçana) | 230 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 116_77; 151 |
| 1904/05AH 1322 | Muhabere Memuru | Skopje (Üsküp) | 250 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 116_77; 151 |
| 1906/07AH 1324 | Muhabere Memuru | Trabzon | 300 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 116_77; 151 |
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 Tahir Efendi | Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Birth year (AH) | 1296 | 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 | Telgraf Memuru | 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) | 1314 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| First work: Gregorian year as stored | 1896 | Recovered annual personnel extract |
| First work: place | Konice | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| First salary field (kuruş a month) | 230 | 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.
- 4 annual entries of 5 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 Tahir Efendi
- Communications official (Muhabere Memuru)
- Kočani (Koçana)
- 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)