Official
Mehmet Tevfik Efendi
Muslim (Müslüman). Born in Izmir (İzmir) in 1867/68 (AH 1284). On record 1902 to 1907, 5 annual entries.
Archive reference 120-98-191
Life#
Mehmet Tevfik Efendi was born in Izmir (İzmir) in 1867/68 (AH 1284) into the Muslim (Müslüman) community; the father was a district governor or lieutenant colonel (kaymakam). Schooling took seven years, at a middle school (Rüşdiye Mektebi); Mehmet Tevfik also wrote Turkish and spoke Arabic and Greek (Rum).
At about 31, in 1898/99, Mehmet Tevfik began work in Istanbul, with four unpaid years as a mülazım (apprentice) before a first salary of 50 kuruş. Of the 5,128 officials whose age at first work is known, fewer than 3 per cent started at 31 or older. From the first annual entry, for 1902/03, to 1906/07, every annual entry places Mehmet Tevfik in the same post, communications official (Muhabere Memuru), in Istanbul.
The salary went from 80 kuruş a month in 1902/03 to 150 in 1906/07, the peak, as Muhabere Memuru in Istanbul, when 6 per cent of paid officials earned less. Over five years the salaries add up to 5,640 kuruş, 20 per cent of what an official on the median salary earned. 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 1867/68 (AH 1284)
First work 1898/99 (AH 1316); 1902 to 1907 (AH 1320 to 1324)
80 to 150 kuruş a month; entries in 5 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, and the median of the same province for the years in which at least 5 officials were paid in the province of the official's salary that year.
The numbers of the chart
| Year | Salary | Median, all officials | Median, same title | Median, same province | Paid less |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1902/03 | 80 | 500 | 380 | 450 | 1% |
| 1903/04 | 80 | 475 | 350 | 450 | 1% |
| 1904/05 | 80 | 450 | 350 | 450 | 1% |
| 1905/06 | 80 | 475 | 330 | 425 | 1% |
| 1906/07 | 150 | 450 | 300 | 470 | 6% |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1898/99AH 1316 | First work | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 50first-salary field |
| 1902 to 1907AH 1320 to 1324 | Muhabere Memuru | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 80 to 150 |
Record#
Personal
- Born
- 1867/68 (AH 1284)
- Birthplace
- Izmir (İzmir)
- Community
- Muslim (Müslüman)
- Nationality as recorded
- Turkish
- Father's occupation
- Kaymakam
Education
- Rüşdiye
- Rüşdiye Mektebi (7 years)rüşdiye school (middle school)
- Unpaid years (mülazemet)
- 4 years
- 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
- Arabic
- Tekellumspeaking
- Greek (Rum)
- Tekellumspeaking. Rum is the word of the records for Greek as spoken by the Orthodox Christians of the empire. It is kept apart from the column Greek, which the records also have
- Turkish
- Kitabetwriting
The glosses are cautious historical readings of the recorded words, not modern levels of proficiency.
First work
- Year
- 1898/99 (AH 1316)
- Place
- Istanbul (Dersaadet)
- First salary field (kuruş a month)
- 50
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 post (job title and place), same years
Of the 136 officials who held Muhabere Memuru in Istanbul in the same years, Mehmet Tevfik Efendi had the 105th highest salary.
- Mustafa Fazıl Bey5 shared years; highest salary 1,700 kuruş
- Mehmet Sadullah Efendi5 shared years; highest salary 1,650 kuruş
- Mustafa Efendi5 shared years; highest salary 1,200 kuruş
- Hafız Nuri Efendi5 shared years; highest salary 970 kuruş
- Mehmed Hilmi Efendi5 shared years; highest salary 690 kuruş
Same place, same years
Of the 808 officials with entries in Istanbul in the same years, Mehmet Tevfik Efendi had the 672nd highest salary.
- Hüseyin Hasip Efendi5 shared years; highest salary 20,000 kuruş
- Suleyman Resat Bey5 shared years; highest salary 7,000 kuruş
- Mehmet Hayri Bey5 shared years; highest salary 5,500 kuruş
- Hasan Ferit Efendi5 shared years; highest salary 5,000 kuruş
- Mehmet Asaf Bey5 shared years; highest salary 5,000 kuruş
Same job title, same years
Of the 1,340 officials with the title Muhabere Memuru in the same years, Mehmet Tevfik Efendi had the 1,280th 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 Tevfik Efendi had the 2,922nd highest salary of them.
- Ahmet Efendiborn 1867/68 (AH 1284); highest salary 380 kuruş
- Ahmet Ferit Efendiborn 1867/68 (AH 1284); highest salary 540 kuruş
- Ahmet Nazif Efendiborn 1867/68 (AH 1284); highest salary 500 kuruş
- Ali Avni Efendiborn 1867/68 (AH 1284); highest salary 800 kuruş
- Ali Enver Efendiborn 1867/68 (AH 1284); highest salary 500 kuruş
Same birthplace
Of the 62 officials born in Izmir (İzmir), Mehmet Tevfik Efendi had the 59th highest salary.
- Yuvanaki İstavridis Efendiborn 1867/68 (AH 1284); highest salary 500 kuruş
- Mehmet Niyazi Efendiborn 1866/67 (AH 1283); highest salary 500 kuruş
- Menas Efendiborn 1866/67 (AH 1283); highest salary 500 kuruş
- Ali Rıza Efendiborn 1865/66 (AH 1282); highest salary 540 kuruş
- Antas Efendiborn 1865/66 (AH 1282); highest salary 4,500 kuruş
First annual entry in the same year
Of the 168 officials whose first annual entry is for 1902/03 (AH 1320), Mehmet Tevfik Efendi had the 140th highest salary.
- Hacı Hüseyin Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 200 kuruş
- Ahmet Azmi Beyfirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 680 kuruş
- Hüseyin Nuri Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 100 kuruş
- Mehmet Ferit Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 150 kuruş
- Selahattin Efendifirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 300 kuruş
Full record
Annual entries (5)
| Year | Title | Place | Kuruş a month | Institution | Source | Archive reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1902/03AH 1320 | Muhabere Memuru | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 80 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 120-98-191 |
| 1903/04AH 1321 | Muhabere Memuru | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 80 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 120-98-191 |
| 1904/05AH 1322 | Muhabere Memuru | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 80 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 120-98-191 |
| 1905/06AH 1323 | Muhabere Memuru | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 80 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 120-98-191 |
| 1906/07AH 1324 | Muhabere Memuru | Istanbul (Dersaadet) | 150 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 120-98-191 |
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 Tevfik Efendi | Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Birth year (AH) | 1284 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Birthplace | izmir | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Province of birth | aydin | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Father's occupation | kaymakam | 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) | 4 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| First work | ||
| First work: year (AH) | 1316 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| First work: Gregorian year as stored | 1898 | 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) | 50 | 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 Tevfik Efendi
- Communications official (Muhabere Memuru)
- Istanbul (Dersaadet)
- Izmir (İzmir)
- 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)