Official
Mehmet Rıfat Efendi
Muslim (Müslüman). Born in Istanbul (Dersaadet) in 1872/73 (AH 1289). On record 1896 to 1908, 12 annual entries.
Archive reference 0091_0058: 113
Life#
Born in Istanbul in 1872/73 (AH 1289), Mehmet Rıfat Efendi came from the Muslim (Müslüman) community; the father was a clerk (ketebe). Schooling took 12 years, at Darüşşafaka, the school for orphans in Istanbul; Mehmet Rıfat also attended the telegraph school and wrote French as well as Turkish.
Mehmet Rıfat began work in Istanbul in 1894/95, at about 22, with two unpaid years as a mülazım (apprentice) before a first salary of 200 kuruş. From 1896/97 to 1907/08 every annual entry places Mehmet Rıfat in Galata, first as a postal official (Posta Memuru), from 1899/1900 in the stamp clerkship (Pul Kitabeti) and from 1905/06 in the correspondence office (Tahrirat Kalemi).
The salary went from 200 kuruş a month in 1896/97 to 430 in 1906/07, the peak, in the Tahrirat Kalemi in Galata, when 48 per cent of paid officials earned less. Over 12 years the salaries add up to 47,040 kuruş, 69 per cent of what an official on the median salary earned. The last annual entry is for 1907/08.
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 1872/73 (AH 1289); First work 1894/95 (AH 1312)
1896 to 1908 (AH 1314 to 1325)
Posta Memuru 1896 to 1899 (AH 1314 to 1316); Pul Kitabeti 1899 to 1905 (AH 1317 to 1322); Tahrirat Kalemi 1905 to 1908 (AH 1323 to 1325)
200 to 430 kuruş a month; entries in 12 years
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1896/97 | 200 | 500 | 350 | 8% |
| 1897/98 | 200 | 500 | 350 | 9% |
| 1898/99 | 220 | 500 | 387.5 | 12% |
| 1899/1900 | 260 | 500 | 375 | 16% |
| 1900/01 | 260 | 500 | 400 | 17% |
| 1901/02 | 380 | 500 | 400 | 29% |
| 1902/03 | 380 | 500 | 400 | 31% |
| 1903/04 | 380 | 475 | 400 | 34% |
| 1904/05 | 380 | 450 | 400 | 35% |
| 1905/06 | 400 | 475 | 737.5 | 38% |
| 1906/07 | 430 | 450 | 875 | 48% |
| 1907/08 | 430 | 300 | 275 | 63% |
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) | 200first-salary field |
| 1896 to 1899AH 1314 to 1316 | Posta Memuru | Galata | 200 to 220 |
| 1899 to 1905AH 1317 to 1322 | Pul Kitabeti | Galata | 260 to 380 |
| 1905 to 1908AH 1323 to 1325 | Tahrirat Kalemi | Galata | 400 to 430 |
Record#
Personal
- Born
- 1872/73 (AH 1289)
- Birthplace
- Istanbul (Dersaadet)
- Community
- Muslim (Müslüman)
- Nationality as recorded
- Turkish
- Father's occupation
- Ketebe
Education
- Darüşşafaka
- Darüşşafaka (12 years)Darüşşafaka (school for orphans in Istanbul)
- Higher or professional
- Telgraf Mektebitelegraph school; recorded as a code
- Unpaid years (mülazemet)
- 2 years
- Preparation route (classification of the paper)
- Darüşşafaka
- Qualification (diploma, certificate, training or nişan)
- No
The years count all schooling up to that school, as the record gives them.
Languages
- French
- Kitabetwriting
- 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)
- 200
Legal records
- Years (AH) with a criminal-record mark in the annual records
- 1318; 1320
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 101 officials with entries in Galata in the same years, Mehmet Rıfat Efendi had the 56th highest salary.
- Ahmet Avni Efendi12 shared years; highest salary 5,000 kuruş
- Dikran Arakilyan Efendi12 shared years; highest salary 1,300 kuruş
- Mıgırdıç Tanfiraki12 shared years; highest salary 1,300 kuruş
- Hasan Tevfik Bey12 shared years; highest salary 750 kuruş
- Ruantuvan Efendi11 shared years; highest salary 750 kuruş
Same job title, same years
Of the 31 officials with the title Pul Kitabeti in the same years, Mehmet Rıfat Efendi had the 19th highest salary.
- Mehmet Emin Efendi6 shared years; highest salary 550 kuruş
- Rıfat Efendi6 shared years; highest salary 500 kuruş
- Ali Nuri Efendi6 shared years; highest salary 440 kuruş
- Mehmet Edip Efendi6 shared years; highest salary 440 kuruş
- Şakir Efendi6 shared years; highest salary 400 kuruş
Same school
Of the 203 officials with Darüşşafaka among their schools, Mehmet Rıfat Efendi had the 113th highest salary.
- Bekir Şakir Efendiborn 1872/73 (AH 1289); highest salary 400 kuruş
- Hasan Basri Efendiborn 1872/73 (AH 1289); highest salary 3,000 kuruş
- Hasan Fahri Efendiborn 1872/73 (AH 1289); highest salary 400 kuruş
- Hüseyin Mazlum Efendiborn 1872/73 (AH 1289); highest salary 1,800 kuruş
- İbrahim Ethem Efendiborn 1872/73 (AH 1289); highest salary 800 kuruş
Same birthplace
Of the 1,999 officials born in Istanbul, 1,997 have a recorded salary; Mehmet Rıfat Efendi had the 1,181st highest salary of them.
- Abdüllatif Efendiborn 1872/73 (AH 1289); highest salary 520 kuruş
- Ahmet Niyazi Beyborn 1872/73 (AH 1289); highest salary 800 kuruş
- Ahmet Rauf Beyborn 1872/73 (AH 1289); highest salary 530 kuruş
- Ahmet Tevfik Efendiborn 1872/73 (AH 1289); highest salary 250 kuruş
- Ali Haydar Efendiborn 1872/73 (AH 1289); highest salary 250 kuruş
First annual entry in the same year
Of the 164 officials whose first annual entry is for 1896/97 (AH 1314), 163 have a recorded salary; Mehmet Rıfat Efendi had the 82nd highest salary of them.
- Artin Ernaki Köleyan Efendifirst entry in Galata; highest salary 340 kuruş
- Hasan Kemal Efendifirst entry in Galata; highest salary 250 kuruş
- Osman Nuri Efendifirst entry in Galata; highest salary 620 kuruş
- Ali Rıza Efendifirst entry in Galata; highest salary 450 kuruş
- Ali Rıza Efendifirst entry in Galata; highest salary 400 kuruş
Full record
Annual entries (12)
| Year | Title | Place | Kuruş a month | Institution | Source | Archive reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1896/97AH 1314 | Posta Memuru | Galata | 200 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0091_0058: 113 |
| 1897/98AH 1315 | Posta Memuru | Galata | 200 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0091_0058: 113 |
| 1898/99AH 1316 | Posta Memuru | Galata | 220 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0091_0058: 113 |
| 1899/1900AH 1317 | Pul Kitabeti | Galata | 260 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0091_0058: 113 |
| 1900/01AH 1318 | Pul Kitabeti | Galata | 260 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0091_0058: 113 |
| 1901/02AH 1319 | Pul Kitabeti | Galata | 380 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0091_0058: 113 |
| 1902/03AH 1320 | Pul Kitabeti | Galata | 380 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0091_0058: 113 |
| 1903/04AH 1321 | Pul Kitabeti | Galata | 380 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0091_0058: 113 |
| 1904/05AH 1322 | Pul Kitabeti | Galata | 380 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0091_0058: 113 |
| 1905/06AH 1323 | Tahrirat Kalemi | Galata | 400 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0091_0058: 113 |
| 1906/07AH 1324 | Tahrirat Kalemi | Galata | 430 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0091_0058: 113 |
| 1907/08AH 1325 | Tahrirat Kalemi | Galata | 430 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 0091_0058: 113 |
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 (16)
| Field | Recorded value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | ||
| Name | Mehmet Rıfat Efendi | Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Birth year (AH) | 1289 | 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 | ketebe | 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 | Darussafaka | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Years of schooling | 12 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Telegraph school (recorded code) | 1 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Years of apprenticeship (mülazemet) | 2 | 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) | 200 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Legal records | ||
| Years (AH) with a criminal-record mark in the annual records | 1318; 1320 | Later annual personnel extract |
What the sources named in this table are
- Later annual personnel extract
- The detailed annual personnel file of October 2025. It marks single annual entries with a criminal-record flag and holds status words such as Vefat. For a death, the year is the year of the annual list in which the status word stands.
- 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 12 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 Rıfat Efendi
- Stamp clerkship (Pul Kitabeti)
- Galata
- Istanbul (Dersaadet)
- Darüşşafaka
- 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)