Official
Mehmet Şerif Efendi
Muslim (Müslüman). Born in Damascus (Şam) in 1879/80 (AH 1297). On record 1901 to 1906, 4 annual entries.
Archive reference 116_161; 319
Life#
Born in Damascus (Şam) in 1879/80 (AH 1297) into the Muslim (Müslüman) community, Mehmet Şerif Efendi was the child of an army major (binbaşı). Schooling took seven years, at a middle school (Rüşdiye Mektebi); Mehmet Şerif also wrote Arabic as well as Turkish and held a qualification (a diploma, certificate, training or decoration).
Work began in Kahramanmaraş (Maraş) in 1896/97, at about 16, with five unpaid years as a mülazım (apprentice) before a first salary of 200 kuruş. The annual lists begin in 1901/02, with Mehmet Şerif as a communications official (Muhabere Memuru) in Bitola (Manastır). The last posts were in Beyoğlu from 1903 to 1906.
The salary went from 200 kuruş a month in 1901/02 to 300 in 1905/06, the peak, as an official for foreign communications (Muhaberat-ı Ecnebiye Memuriyeti) in Beyoğlu, when 23 per cent of paid officials earned less. In all, four years of salary come to 10,800 kuruş, 47 per cent of what an official on the median salary earned in those years. The final annual entry is for 1905/06.
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 1879/80 (AH 1297)
First work 1896/97 (AH 1314)
1903 to 1906 (AH 1321 to 1323)
No annual entry for 1902/03 (AH 1320) before it.
Muhaberat-ı Ecnebiye Memuriyeti
200 to 300 kuruş a month; entries in 3 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1901/02 | 200 | 500 | 400 | 9% |
| 1903/04 | 200 | 475 | 450 | 8% |
| 1904/05 | 200 | 450 | 455 | 8% |
| 1905/06 | 300 | 475 | 445 | 23% |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1896/97AH 1314 | First work | Kahramanmaraş (Maraş) | 200first-salary field |
| 1901/02AH 1319 | Muhabere Memuru | Bitola (Manastır) | 200 |
| No annual entry: 1902/03 (AH 1320) | |||
| 1903 to 1906AH 1321 to 1323 | Muhaberat-ı Ecnebiye Memuriyeti | Beyoğlu | 200 to 300 |
Record#
Personal
- Born
- 1879/80 (AH 1297)
- Birthplace
- Damascus (Şam)
- Community
- Muslim (Müslüman)
- Nationality as recorded
- Turkish
- Father's occupation
- Binbasi
Education
- Rüşdiye
- Rüşdiye Mektebi (7 years)rüşdiye school (middle school)
- Unpaid years (mülazemet)
- 5 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
- 1896/97 (AH 1314)
- First salary field (kuruş a month)
- 200
Legal records
- Legal record note as worded
- Devamsızlık / Mumaileyhin istihsal eylediği müddet-i mezuniyetini bir mislinden fazla tecavüz ettirdiği halde mahall-i memuriyetine gitmediğinden; Devamsızlık
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 152 officials with entries in Beyoğlu in the same years, Mehmet Şerif Efendi had the 113th highest salary.
- Emrullah Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 10,000 kuruş
- Unnamed official (0002_0176; 350)3 shared years; highest salary 3,500 kuruş
- Mustafa Nesimi Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 3,250 kuruş
- Paskal Mıgırdıç Kazancıyan Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 2,905 kuruş
- Nikola Yunani Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 1,350 kuruş
Same job title, same years
Of the 216 officials with the title Muhaberat-ı Ecnebiye Memuriyeti in the same years, Mehmet Şerif Efendi had the 181st highest salary.
- Mehmet Salih Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 1,800 kuruş
- Garon Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 1,300 kuruş
- Taşçıyan Markar Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 1,300 kuruş
- Ahmet Şükrü Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 1,200 kuruş
- Dikran Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 1,200 kuruş
All 605 officials with the title Muhaberat-ı Ecnebiye Memuriyeti
Same school
Of the 3,206 officials with Rüşdiye Mektebi among their schools, 3,200 have a recorded salary; Mehmet Şerif Efendi had the 2,211th highest salary of them.
- Abbas Hilmi Efendiborn 1879/80 (AH 1297); highest salary 450 kuruş
- Abdullah Agah Efendiborn 1879/80 (AH 1297); highest salary 500 kuruş
- Abdülmecid Efendiborn 1879/80 (AH 1297); highest salary 690 kuruş
- Abdülmecit Efendiborn 1879/80 (AH 1297); highest salary 220 kuruş
- Ahmet Burhanettin Efendiborn 1879/80 (AH 1297); highest salary 400 kuruş
Same birthplace
Of the 59 officials born in Damascus (Şam), Mehmet Şerif Efendi had the 43rd highest salary.
- Abdullah Safi Efendiborn 1880/81 (AH 1298); highest salary 300 kuruş
- Yahya Efendiborn 1880/81 (AH 1298); highest salary 400 kuruş
- Ahmet Tevfik Efendiborn 1881/82 (AH 1299); highest salary 350 kuruş
- Ebussuud Efendiborn 1881/82 (AH 1299); highest salary 285 kuruş
- MEHMET EFENDİborn 1881/82 (AH 1299); highest salary 400 kuruş
The page of Damascus (Şam), with the 59 officials born there
First annual entry in the same year
Of the 131 officials whose first annual entry is for 1901/02 (AH 1319), Mehmet Şerif Efendi had the 76th highest salary.
- İsmail Hakkı Efendifirst entry in Bitola (Manastır); highest salary 300 kuruş
- Unnamed official (0156_0025; 47)first entry in Bitola (Manastır); highest salary 400 kuruş
- Abdullah Agah Efendifirst entry in Damascus (Şam); highest salary 500 kuruş
- ALİ HİKMET EFENDİfirst entry in Istanbul; highest salary 700 kuruş
- Hamit Efendifirst entry in Keşan; highest salary 300 kuruş
Full record
Annual entries (4)
| Year | Title | Place | Kuruş a month | Institution | Source | Archive reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1901/02AH 1319 | Muhabere Memuru | Bitola (Manastır) | 200 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 116_161; 319 |
| 1903/04AH 1321 | Muhaberat-ı Ecnebiye Memuriyeti | Beyoğlu | 200 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 116_161; 319 |
| 1904/05AH 1322 | Muhaberat-ı Ecnebiye Memuriyeti | Beyoğlu | 200 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 116_161; 319 |
| 1905/06AH 1323 | Muhaberat-ı Ecnebiye Memuriyeti | Beyoğlu | 300 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 116_161; 319 |
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 Şerif Efendi | Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Birth year (AH) | 1297 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Birthplace | sam | 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 |
| Father's occupation | binbasi | 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) | 5 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| First work | ||
| First work: year (AH) | 1314 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| First work: Gregorian year as stored | 1896 | Recovered annual personnel extract |
| First work: place | Maras | 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 | ||
| Legal record note as worded | Devamsızlık / Mumaileyhin istihsal eylediği müddet-i mezuniyetini bir mislinden fazla tecavüz ettirdiği halde mahall-i memuriyetine gitmediğinden used on this page | Legal notes (earlier workbook copy); Legal notes (later workbook copy) |
| Legal record note as worded | Devamsızlık other value | Legal notes (earlier workbook copy); Legal notes (later workbook copy) |
What the sources named in this table are
- Legal notes (earlier workbook copy)
- A workbook of notes on legal records. The wording is kept as written. It may hold an accusation or an acquittal, it is not the finding of a court, and its year is the year of the record, not the date of an event.
- Legal notes (later workbook copy)
- A later copy of the workbook of notes on legal records. The same wording in both copies is one note, not two.
- 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.
- The sources give more than one value for a marked field. Every value is listed.
- 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 Şerif Efendi
- Post of official for foreign communications (Muhaberat-ı Ecnebiye Memuriyeti)
- Beyoğlu
- Damascus (Şam)
- 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)