Official
Mehmet Refik Efendi
Muslim (Müslüman). Born in Sivas in 1876/77 (AH 1293). On record 1895 to 1905, 10 annual entries.
Archive reference 0068_0085; 167
Life#
Born in Sivas in 1876/77 (AH 1293), Mehmet Refik Efendi came from the Muslim (Müslüman) community; the father was a clerk (katip). Schooling took seven years, at a middle school (Rüşdiye Mektebi).
Work began in Sivas in 1894/95, at about 18, with one unpaid year as a mülazım (apprentice) before a first salary of 250 kuruş. Every annual entry from 1895/96 to 1904/05 places Mehmet Refik in the same post, communications official (Muhabere Memuru), in Sivas, the birthplace.
Pay rose from 250 kuruş a month in 1895/96 to a peak of 400 in 1904/05, as Muhabere Memuru in Sivas, when 38 per cent of paid officials earned less. Over ten years the salaries add up to 23,400 kuruş, 39 per cent of what an official on the median salary earned. The final annual entry is for 1904/05. An entry in "Sicill-i Ahval Defterlerine göre Sivaslı devlet adamları" by NESLİHAN EROL (2022) probably refers to Mehmet Refik, since the name, the birthplace and a place of service agree.
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 | 250 | 500 | 400 | 13% |
| 1896/97 | 150 | 500 | 400 | 6% |
| 1897/98 | 150 | 500 | 400 | 6% |
| 1898/99 | 150 | 500 | 400 | 6% |
| 1899/1900 | 150 | 500 | 400 | 4% |
| 1900/01 | 150 | 500 | 400 | 4% |
| 1901/02 | 150 | 500 | 400 | 5% |
| 1902/03 | 200 | 500 | 380 | 9% |
| 1903/04 | 200 | 475 | 350 | 8% |
| 1904/05 | 400 | 450 | 350 | 38% |
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 | Sivas | 250first-salary field |
| 1895 to 1905AH 1313 to 1322 | Muhabere Memuru | Sivas | 250 to 400 |
Record#
Personal
- Born
- 1876/77 (AH 1293)
- Birthplace
- Sivas
- Community
- Muslim (Müslüman)
- Nationality as recorded
- Turkish
- Father's occupation
- Katip
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
- Sivas
- First salary field (kuruş a month)
- 250
Named in scholarly works#
No link between a work and an official has been accepted. Each entry was found by fixed rules on the name and the recorded fields, and says what it rests on.
Sicill-i Ahval Defterlerine göre Sivaslı devlet adamları (NESLİHAN EROL, 2022). Name as printed: Mehmet Refik Efendi. PDF pages 291 and 292.
Probable link: same name and birthplace; served in the place the work covers
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 54 officials with entries in Sivas in the same years, Mehmet Refik Efendi had the 37th highest salary.
- Ahmet Servet Efendi10 shared years; highest salary 600 kuruş
- Hafız Mehmet Efendi10 shared years; highest salary 560 kuruş
- Mehmet Eşref Efendi10 shared years; highest salary 540 kuruş
- Kasım Sırrı Efendi10 shared years; highest salary 400 kuruş
- Ali Mazhar Efendi9 shared years; highest salary 600 kuruş
Same job title, same years
Of the 1,722 officials with the title Muhabere Memuru in the same years, Mehmet Refik Efendi had the 1,029th highest salary.
- Mehmet Hulusi Bey10 shared years; highest salary 2,600 kuruş
- Mustafa Fazıl Bey10 shared years; highest salary 1,700 kuruş
- Mehmet Sadullah Efendi10 shared years; highest salary 1,650 kuruş
- Mehmet Asım Efendi10 shared years; highest salary 1,550 kuruş
- Mehmet Hurşit Efendi10 shared years; highest salary 1,500 kuruş
Same school
Of the 3,206 officials with Rüşdiye Mektebi among their schools, 3,200 have a recorded salary; Mehmet Refik Efendi had the 1,725th highest salary of them.
- Abdullah Efendiborn 1876/77 (AH 1293); highest salary 1,000 kuruş
- Abdullah Faik Efendiborn 1876/77 (AH 1293); highest salary 250 kuruş
- Ahmet Cemil Efendiborn 1876/77 (AH 1293); highest salary 350 kuruş
- Ahmet Faik Efendiborn 1876/77 (AH 1293); highest salary 400 kuruş
- Ahmet Feyzi Efendiborn 1876/77 (AH 1293); highest salary 720 kuruş
Same birthplace
Of the 95 officials born in Sivas, Mehmet Refik Efendi had the 66th highest salary.
- Osman Faik Efendiborn 1876/77 (AH 1293); highest salary 250 kuruş
- Abdülkadir Ziya Efendiborn 1875/76 (AH 1292); highest salary 900 kuruş
- Ali Rıza Efendiborn 1875/76 (AH 1292); highest salary 500 kuruş
- İbrahim Ethem Efendiborn 1875/76 (AH 1292); highest salary 400 kuruş
- Kasım Sırrı Efendiborn 1877/78 (AH 1294); highest salary 400 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 Refik Efendi had the 95th highest salary of them.
- İbrahim Ethem Efendifirst entry in Sivas; highest salary 400 kuruş
- Kasım Sırrı Efendifirst entry in Sivas; highest salary 400 kuruş
- Mehmet Behçet Lami Efendifirst entry in Sivas; highest salary 400 kuruş
- Mehmet Tevfik Efendifirst entry in Sivas; highest salary 400 kuruş
- Ali Rıza Efendifirst entry in Sivas; highest salary 500 kuruş
Full record
Annual entries (10)
| Year | Title | Place | Kuruş a month | Institution | Source | Archive reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1895/96AH 1313 | Muhabere Memuru | Sivas | 250 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0068_0085; 167 |
| 1896/97AH 1314 | Muhabere Memuru | Sivas | 150 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0068_0085; 167 |
| 1897/98AH 1315 | Muhabere Memuru | Sivas | 150 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0068_0085; 167 |
| 1898/99AH 1316 | Muhabere Memuru | Sivas | 150 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0068_0085; 167 |
| 1899/1900AH 1317 | Muhabere Memuru | Sivas | 150 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0068_0085; 167 |
| 1900/01AH 1318 | Muhabere Memuru | Sivas | 150 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0068_0085; 167 |
| 1901/02AH 1319 | Muhabere Memuru | Sivas | 150 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0068_0085; 167 |
| 1902/03AH 1320 | Muhabere Memuru | Sivas | 200 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0068_0085; 167 |
| 1903/04AH 1321 | Muhabere Memuru | Sivas | 200 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0068_0085; 167 |
| 1904/05AH 1322 | Muhabere Memuru | Sivas | 400 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0068_0085; 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 Refik Efendi | Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Birth year (AH) | 1293 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Birthplace | sivas | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Province of birth | sivas | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Father's occupation | katip | 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 | Sivas | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| First salary field (kuruş a month) | 250 | 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 Refik Efendi
- Communications official (Muhabere Memuru)
- Sivas
- 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)