Official
Osman Şemli Efendi
Muslim (Müslüman). Born in Damascus (Şam) in 1873/74 (AH 1290). On record 1904 to 1907, 3 annual entries.
Archive reference 148-167-329
Life#
Born in Damascus (Şam) in 1873/74 (AH 1290) into the Muslim (Müslüman) community, Osman Şemli Efendi was the child of an official (memur). Osman Şemli had seven years of schooling, at a middle school (Rüşdiye Mektebi), wrote Arabic as well as Turkish, and held a qualification (a diploma, certificate, training or decoration).
Work began in Damascus in 1904/05, at about 31, paid from the start, on 500 kuruş a month. Fewer than 3 per cent of the 5,128 officials whose age at first work is known began work at 31 or older. Every annual entry from 1904/05 to 1906/07 places Osman Şemli in the same post, travelling postal official (Seyyar Memur), in Damascus, the birthplace.
The salary never rose above the first in the lists, 500 kuruş a month in 1904/05, as Seyyar Memur in Damascus, when 52 per cent of paid officials earned less. The final annual entry is for 1906/07.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1904/05 | 500 | 450 | 600 | 52% |
| 1905/06 | 500 | 475 | 540 | 50% |
| 1906/07 | 500 | 450 | 500 | 51% |
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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1904/05AH 1322 | First work | Damascus (Şam) | 500first-salary field |
| 1904 to 1907AH 1322 to 1324 | Seyyar Memur | Damascus (Şam) | 500 |
Record#
Personal
- Born
- 1873/74 (AH 1290)
- Birthplace
- Damascus (Şam)
- Community
- Muslim (Müslüman)
- Nationality as recorded
- Turkish
- Father's occupation
- Memur
Education
- Rüşdiye
- Rüşdiye Mektebi (7 years)rüşdiye school (middle school)
- Unpaid years (mülazemet)
- 0 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
- 1904/05 (AH 1322)
- Place
- Damascus (Şam)
- First salary field (kuruş a month)
- 500
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 25 officials with entries in Damascus (Şam) in the same years, Osman Şemli Efendi had the 6th highest salary.
- Hafız Mehmet Nuri Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 800 kuruş
- Mehmet Hayri Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 600 kuruş
- Esad Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 400 kuruş
- MEHMET EFENDİ3 shared years; highest salary 400 kuruş
- Aziz Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 300 kuruş
Same job title, same years
Of the 58 officials with the title Seyyar Memur in the same years, Osman Şemli Efendi had the 37th highest salary.
- Mehmet İzzet Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 1,000 kuruş
- Mehmet Nurettin Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 1,000 kuruş
- Ahmet Tevfik Bey3 shared years; highest salary 800 kuruş
- Mehmet Tahir Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 800 kuruş
- Salih Safi Efendi3 shared years; highest salary 800 kuruş
Same school
Of the 3,206 officials with Rüşdiye Mektebi among their schools, 3,200 have a recorded salary; Osman Şemli Efendi had the 1,253rd highest salary of them.
- Abbas Rüştü Efendiborn 1873/74 (AH 1290); highest salary 1,500 kuruş
- Abdülaziz Efendiborn 1873/74 (AH 1290); highest salary 750 kuruş
- Abdülbaki Efendiborn 1873/74 (AH 1290); highest salary 400 kuruş
- Abdülkerim Efendiborn 1873/74 (AH 1290); highest salary 675 kuruş
- Abdullah Efendiborn 1873/74 (AH 1290); highest salary 720 kuruş
Same birthplace
Of the 59 officials born in Damascus (Şam), Osman Şemli Efendi had the 18th highest salary.
- Mehmet Hayri Efendiborn 1872/73 (AH 1289); highest salary 600 kuruş
- Mehmet Tevfik Efendiborn 1872/73 (AH 1289); highest salary 500 kuruş
- Abdullah Halit Efendiborn 1874/75 (AH 1291); highest salary 1,000 kuruş
- Ahmet Tevfik Efendiborn 1874/75 (AH 1291); highest salary 400 kuruş
- Ahmet Tevfik Efendiborn 1874/75 (AH 1291); highest salary 250 kuruş
The page of Damascus (Şam), with the 59 officials born there
First annual entry in the same year
Of the 120 officials whose first annual entry is for 1904/05 (AH 1322), Osman Şemli Efendi had the 14th highest salary.
- Mehmet Hayri Efendifirst entry in Damascus (Şam); highest salary 600 kuruş
- Mehmet İzzet Efendifirst entry in Damascus (Şam); highest salary 200 kuruş
- Ali Rıza Efendifirst entry in Isparta; highest salary 300 kuruş
- Arnold Karnım Efendifirst entry in Beyoğlu; highest salary 1,000 kuruş
- Mehmet Şemsettin Efendifirst entry in Aleppo (Halep); highest salary 175 kuruş
Full record
Annual entries (3)
| Year | Title | Place | Kuruş a month | Institution | Source | Archive reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1904/05AH 1322 | Seyyar Memur | Damascus (Şam) | 500 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 148-167-329 |
| 1905/06AH 1323 | Seyyar Memur | Damascus (Şam) | 500 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 148-167-329 |
| 1906/07AH 1324 | Seyyar Memur | Damascus (Şam) | 500 | Post and Telegraph (Posta ve Telgraf) | Recovered annual personnel extract | 148-167-329 |
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 | Osman Şemli Efendi | Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| Birth year (AH) | 1290 | 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 | Memur | 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) | 0 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| First work | ||
| First work: year (AH) | 1322 | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| First work: Gregorian year as stored | 1904 | Recovered annual personnel extract |
| First work: place | sam | Recovered annual personnel extract; Personnel attributes extract; Earlier annual personnel extract |
| First salary field (kuruş a month) | 500 | 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.
- 2 annual entries of 3 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
- Osman Şemli Efendi
- Travelling postal official (Seyyar Memur)
- 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)