Official
Mehmet Selim Efendi
Muslim (Müslüman). Born in Hama in 1875/76 (AH 1292). On record 1898 to 1903, 4 annual entries.
Archive reference 101_244_485
Life#
Mehmet Selim Efendi was born in Hama in 1875/76 (AH 1292) into the Muslim (Müslüman) community. Schooling took seven years, at a middle school (Rüşdiye Mektebi); Mehmet Selim also wrote Arabic as well as Turkish and held a qualification (a diploma, certificate, training or decoration).
Work began in Hama in 1891/92, at about 16, with seven unpaid years as a mülazım (apprentice) before a first salary of 400 kuruş. Fewer than 6 per cent of the 5,142 officials with a known apprenticeship worked unpaid for seven years or longer. The annual lists begin in 1898/99, with Mehmet Selim as a communications official (Muhabere Memuru) in Baalbek. The last posts were in Damascus in 1900/01 and Suriye in 1901/02 and Elassona (Alasonya) in 1902/03.
The salary went from 400 kuruş a month in 1898/99 to 475 in 1901/02, the peak, as Muhabere Memuru in Suriye, when 47 per cent of paid officials earned less. The final annual entry is for 1902/03.
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 1875/76 (AH 1292); First work 1891/92 (AH 1309)
1900/01 (AH 1318)
No annual entry for 1899/1900 (AH 1317) before it.
250 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1898/99 | 400 | 500 | 400 | 31% |
| 1900/01 | 250 | 500 | 400 | 13% |
| 1901/02 | 475 | 500 | 400 | 47% |
| 1902/03 | 475 | 500 | 380 | 48% |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1891/92AH 1309 | First work | Hama | 400first-salary field |
| 1898/99AH 1316 | Muhabere Memuru | Baalbek | 400 |
| No annual entry: 1899/1900 (AH 1317) | |||
| 1900/01AH 1318 | Muhabere Memuru | Damascus (Şam) | 250 |
| 1901/02AH 1319 | Muhabere Memuru | Suriye | 475 |
| 1902/03AH 1320 | Muhabere Memuru | Elassona (Alasonya) | 475 |
Record#
Personal
- Born
- 1875/76 (AH 1292)
- Birthplace
- Hama
- Community
- Muslim (Müslüman)
- Nationality as recorded
- Turkish
Education
- Rüşdiye
- Rüşdiye Mektebi (7 years)rüşdiye school (middle school)
- Unpaid years (mülazemet)
- 7 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
- Arabic
- Kitabetwriting
- Turkish
- Kitabetwriting
The glosses are cautious historical readings of the recorded words, not modern levels of proficiency.
First work
- Year
- 1891/92 (AH 1309)
- Place
- Hama
- First salary field (kuruş a month)
- 400
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 Baalbek in the same years, Mehmet Selim Efendi had the lowest salary.
- Ahmet Efendi1 shared year; highest salary 2,500 kuruş
Same job title, same years
Of the 1,225 officials with the title Muhabere Memuru in the same years, Mehmet Selim Efendi had the 713th highest salary.
- Mehmet Hulusi Bey4 shared years; highest salary 2,600 kuruş
- Mustafa Fazıl Bey4 shared years; highest salary 1,700 kuruş
- Mehmet Sadullah Efendi4 shared years; highest salary 1,650 kuruş
- Mehmet Asım Efendi4 shared years; highest salary 1,550 kuruş
- Mehmet Hurşit Efendi4 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 Selim Efendi had the 1,635th highest salary of them.
- Abdülaziz Efendiborn 1875/76 (AH 1292); highest salary 380 kuruş
- Abdülkadir Ziya Efendiborn 1875/76 (AH 1292); highest salary 900 kuruş
- Ahmet Faik Efendiborn 1875/76 (AH 1292); highest salary 200 kuruş
- Ahmet Hamdiborn 1875/76 (AH 1292); highest salary 210 kuruş
- Ahmet Hurrem Efendiborn 1875/76 (AH 1292); highest salary 100 kuruş
Same birthplace
Of the 5 officials born in Hama, Mehmet Selim Efendi had the 4th highest salary.
- Halid Efendiborn 1878/79 (AH 1296); highest salary 500 kuruş
- Ahmet Tevfik Efendiborn 1868/69 (AH 1285); highest salary 590 kuruş
- Halit Efendiborn 1887/88 (AH 1305); highest salary 400 kuruş
- Vasıf Beyborn 1852/53 (AH 1269); highest salary 600 kuruş
First annual entry in the same year
Of the 93 officials whose first annual entry is for 1898/99 (AH 1316), 92 have a recorded salary; Mehmet Selim Efendi had the 31st highest salary of them.
- Ahmet Rıfat Efendifirst entry in Balıkesir; highest salary 500 kuruş
- Arif Mustafa Efendifirst entry in Didymoteicho (Dimetoka); highest salary 380 kuruş
- Artanis Hurşit Efendifirst entry in Baghdad (Bağdat); highest salary 350 kuruş
- Cemal Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 400 kuruş
- İsmail Hilmi Efendifirst entry in Jaffa (Yafa); highest salary 400 kuruş
Full record
Annual entries (4)
| Year | Title | Place | Kuruş a month | Institution | Source | Archive reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1898/99AH 1316 | Muhabere Memuru | Baalbek | 400 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 101_244_485 |
| 1900/01AH 1318 | Muhabere Memuru | Damascus (Şam) | 250 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 101_244_485 |
| 1901/02AH 1319 | Muhabere Memuru | Suriye | 475 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 101_244_485 |
| 1902/03AH 1320 | Muhabere Memuru | Elassona (Alasonya) | 475 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 101_244_485 |
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 (13)
| Field | Recorded value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | ||
| Name | Mehmet Selim Efendi | Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Birth year (AH) | 1292 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Birthplace | hama | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Province of birth | suriye | 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) | 7 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| First work | ||
| First work: year (AH) | 1309 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| First work: Gregorian year as stored | 1892 | Recovered annual personnel extract |
| First work: place | Hama | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| First salary field (kuruş a month) | 400 | 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 4 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 Selim Efendi
- Communications official (Muhabere Memuru)
- Baalbek
- Hama
- 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)