Official
Mehmet İhsan Efendi
Muslim (Müslüman). Born in Istanbul (Dersaadet) in 1878/79 (AH 1296). On record 1895 to 1905, 10 annual entries.
Archive reference 0074_0167; 331
Life#
Mehmet İhsan Efendi was born in Istanbul in 1878/79 (AH 1296) into the Muslim (Müslüman) community; the father was a tradesman (esnaf). Schooling took seven years, at a middle school (Rüşdiye Mektebi).
At about 16, in 1894/95, Mehmet İhsan began work in Istanbul, with one unpaid year as a mülazım (apprentice) before a first salary of 25 kuruş. Every annual entry from 1895/96 to 1904/05 places Mehmet İhsan in Istanbul, the birthplace, first as an official (Memur), from 1897/98 in the council clerkship (Meclis Kitabeti) and from 1901/02 in the documents office (Evrak Kalemi).
The salary went from 25 kuruş a month in 1895/96 to 140 in 1904/05, the peak, in the Evrak Kalemi in Istanbul, when 4 per cent of paid officials earned less. Over ten years the salaries add up to 11,760 kuruş, 19 per cent of what an official on the median salary earned. The final annual entry is for 1904/05.
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 | 25 | 500 | 281 | 0% |
| 1896/97 | 45 | 500 | 300 | 0% |
| 1897/98 | 45 | 500 | 200 | 0% |
| 1898/99 | 100 | 500 | 220 | 2% |
| 1899/1900 | 125 | 500 | 137.5 | 4% |
| 1900/01 | 125 | 500 | 125 | 4% |
| 1901/02 | 125 | 500 | 250 | 4% |
| 1902/03 | 125 | 500 | 245 | 4% |
| 1903/04 | 125 | 475 | 240 | 3% |
| 1904/05 | 140 | 450 | 300 | 4% |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1894/95AH 1312 | First work | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 25first-salary field |
| 1895 to 1897AH 1313 to 1314 | Memur | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 25 to 45 |
| 1897 to 1901AH 1315 to 1318 | Meclis Kitabeti | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 45 to 125 |
| 1901 to 1905AH 1319 to 1322 | Evrak Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 125 to 140 |
Record#
Personal
- Born
- 1878/79 (AH 1296)
- Birthplace
- Istanbul (Dersaadet)
- Community
- Muslim (Müslüman)
- Nationality as recorded
- Turkish
- Father's occupation
- Esnaf
Education
- Rüşdiye
- Rüşdiye Mektebi (7 years)rüşdiye school (middle school)
- Unpaid years (mülazemet)
- 1 year
- 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
- 1894/95 (AH 1312)
- Place
- Istanbul (Dersaadet)
- First salary field (kuruş a month)
- 25
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 991 officials with entries in Istanbul in the same years, Mehmet İhsan Efendi had the 908th highest salary.
- Hüseyin Hasip Efendi10 shared years; highest salary 20,000 kuruş
- Salahattin Bey10 shared years; highest salary 7,800 kuruş
- Suleyman Resat Bey10 shared years; highest salary 7,000 kuruş
- Mehmet Hayri Bey10 shared years; highest salary 5,500 kuruş
- Mehmet Asaf Bey10 shared years; highest salary 5,000 kuruş
Same job title, same years
Of the 12 officials with the title Meclis Kitabeti in the same years, Mehmet İhsan Efendi had the 7th highest salary.
- Hafız Kemal Bey4 shared years; highest salary 1,000 kuruş
- İbrahim Nazmi Efendi4 shared years; highest salary 700 kuruş
- Mehmet Murad Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 700 kuruş
- İsmail Ragıp Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 400 kuruş
- Ali Vahid Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 100 kuruş
Same school
Of the 3,206 officials with Rüşdiye Mektebi among their schools, 3,200 have a recorded salary; Mehmet İhsan Efendi had the 2,985th 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 İhsan Efendi had the 1,778th 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 183 officials whose first annual entry is for 1895/96 (AH 1313), 182 have a recorded salary; Mehmet İhsan Efendi had the 177th highest salary of them.
- Ahmet Hulusi Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 380 kuruş
- Mustafa Nail Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 270 kuruş
- Ahmet Muhsin Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 300 kuruş
- Mehmet İhsan Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 300 kuruş
- Musa Kazım Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 400 kuruş
Full record
Annual entries (10)
| Year | Title | Place | Kuruş a month | Institution | Source | Archive reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1895/96AH 1313 | Memur | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 25 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0074_0167; 331 |
| 1896/97AH 1314 | Memur | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 45 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0074_0167; 331 |
| 1897/98AH 1315 | Meclis Kitabeti | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 45 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0074_0167; 331 |
| 1898/99AH 1316 | Meclis Kitabeti | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 100 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0074_0167; 331 |
| 1899/1900AH 1317 | Meclis Kitabeti | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 125 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0074_0167; 331 |
| 1900/01AH 1318 | Meclis Kitabeti | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 125 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0074_0167; 331 |
| 1901/02AH 1319 | Evrak Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 125 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0074_0167; 331 |
| 1902/03AH 1320 | Evrak Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 125 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0074_0167; 331 |
| 1903/04AH 1321 | Evrak Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 125 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0074_0167; 331 |
| 1904/05AH 1322 | Evrak Kalemi | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 140 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0074_0167; 331 |
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 İhsan 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 | esnaf | 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) | 1 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| First work | ||
| First work: year (AH) | 1312 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| First work: Gregorian year as stored | 1894 | 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) | 25 | 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.
- 10 annual entries of 10 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 İhsan Efendi
- Council clerkship (Meclis Kitabeti)
- Istanbul (Dersaadet)
- Rüşdiye school (Rüşdiye Mektebi)
- Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf)
- Muslim (Müslüman)
- Documents office (Evrak Kalemi)
- 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)