SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS OF A SENIOR OFFICER IN OTTOMAN CIVIL SERVICE ORGANIZATION: CASE OF MISRÎZÂDE AHMED TAHIR EFENDI (1840-1889)

OSMANLI MÜLKİYE TEŞKİLATINDA ÜST DÜZEY BİR MEMURUN SOSYO-EKONOMİK DURUMU: MISRÎZÂDE AHMED TAHİR EFENDİ ÖRNEĞİ (1840-1889)

Abstract

Ottoman Seyfiye being separated into two as civil and military service in 19 ͭ ͪ century brought the contact between civil service and kalemiye. Steps taken especially in order to strengthened centralized management in this period started transformation process of kalemiye which forms the basis of Ottoman bureaucracy into civil service. With this study it was aimed to introduce Ahmed Tahir Efendi who is one of the senior officers of the mentioned organisation in the process of transition from the kalemiyye to the civil service. Ahmed Tahir Efendi who belongs to a family known as“Mısrîzâde” since they had settled Tarsus from Egypt was born in Tarsus in 1840. Ahmed Tahir Efendi whose father was a congressman in Tarsus started civil service at the early age. Ahmed Tahir Efendi who especially served at high ranks in various units of civil service organization died in Tarsus in 1889. Although he died at a very early age, when he was 49, he served in many other cities such as İstanbul, Ankara, Erzurum, Prizren, Girit, Selanik and Yanya apart from Tarsus. With this study which is based on archive documents, his family, educational status and occupational life, economic status and books in his library were found out. There has been no study about him since now. So, this reveals the original value of the study being done. Although it is a micro-size analysis, findings about Ahmed Tahir Efendi that would give idea to us about socio-economic status and intellectual level of other officers who have equal duties with him which increase the importance of study.Before 19 ͭ ͪ century, officers in Ottoman state organisation were divided into three groups namely seyfiye, kalemiye and ilmiye according to the status of their duty. Seyfiye being separated into two as civil and military service in this century brought the contact between civil service and kalemiye. Steps taken especially in order to strengthened centralized management in this period started transformation process of kalemiye which forms the basis of Ottoman bureaucracy into civil service. In this study, the life of Ahmed Tahir Efendi who served as senior officer in civil service organisation in 19 ͭ ͪcentury was analyzed. The main resources of the study are Sicill-i Ahval record in the Ottoman Archives of the Prime Ministry and heritage dated March 5, 1889 in Tarsus Şer’iyye Record no 316. of Ahmed Tahir Efendi who belongs to one of the prominent families of city and called as “Mısrîzâde” since they settled in Tarsus coming from Egypt. Apart from this, other archive documents and studies carried out on Sicill-i Ahval and heritage records of other people were also used. All the data obtained from these resources were compiled and analyzed in descriptive method. In this way, the family, educational status and occupational life, economic status of Ahmed Tahir Efendi who is a senior civil service officer in 19 ͭ ͪcentury and books in his library were found out. There has been no study about him until now. So, this reveals the original value of the study being done. Although it is a micro-size analysis, findings about Ahmed Tahir Efendi would give idea to us about socio-economic status and intellectual level of other officers who have equal duties with him which increases the importance of study. Ahmed Tahir Efendi was born in Tarsus in 1840. He was taught Arabic grammar and syntax in Tarsus school and madrasah; Persian, Logic and until Tuhfe, Baharistan and Gülistan in rhetoric until he is 15 years old; started to work as clerk officer intern in Tarsus council a year later. Although it is observed that intern officers start working at the age of twelve, thirteen until thirty in those periods in Ottoman Empire; most of the intern officers are under twenty. Since Ahmed Tahir Efendi had the chance to be an intern officer at the age of sixteen, he is one of those people who started working before twenty. Ahmet Tahir Efendi went to Istanbul in 1859 and became an officer at Divan-ı Humayun office (Imperial Court) after an examination. Then, after working for seven years at different units of Meclis-i Vala (The Supreme Court of Judicial Ordinances), he was assigned as a member of Bahriyye Levazım Komisyonu (Marine Quartermaster Commission) with the rank of head clerk. Then he served as provincial head clerk respectively in Ankara, Erzurum, Yanya, Prizren, Girit and Selanik; meanwhile he served as clerk policeman as well. After being assigned as clerk policeman for the second time in 1879, Ahmed Tahir Efendi worked at this duty for eight years and he was dismissed from his service on September 1, 1887 for being assigned as lieutenant governor for he was in need of change of scenery. At the start of 1889, he died in Tarsus which is his hometown before he was assigned as a lieutenant governor of a district. Having started to work for 170 piastres at first, the average salary appreciated for Ahmed Tahir Efendi was around 3.500 piastres especially after 1868 although his salary had a rough course after going to Istanbul. Ahmed Tahir Efendi, the son of Mısrîzâde Ali Efendi who served as the member of Tarsus council and third-degree officer had two wives namely Huriye and Melek and three children from Mrs. Huriye whose names are Celaleddin, Mehmed and Zehra. His elder son Celaleddin Bey is a high-rank officer at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. With this study, it was made clear how much money Ahmed Tahir Efendi left to his heirs and what his heritage is composed of apart from the family and education and occupational life of him. Total value of his heritage is 24.000 piastres. 6.964 piastres 30 para which is the cost of his debts and cost of heritage distribution was taken from this sum and the rest of money -17.035 piastres 10 para- was distributed to his heirs. 17.500 piastres of personal assets is composed of his stock and grains, 3.756 piastres 30 para is composed of his household goods, 895 piastres 30 para is the cost of his garments, 504 piastres 20 pa

Özet

Osmanlı seyfiye teşkilatının XIX. yüzyılda mülkiye ve askeriye şeklinde ikiye bölünmesi, mülkiye ile kalemiye arasındaki irtibatı da gündeme getirmiştir. Bu dönemde özellikle merkezi yönetimi güçlendirmek için atılan adımlar, Osmanlı bürokrasisinin temelini oluşturan kalemiyenin, mülkiyeye dönüşüm sürecini başlatmıştır. İşte bu araştırmayla kalemiyeden mülkiyeye geçiş sürecinde söz konusu teşkilatının üst düzey görevlilerinden biri olan Ahmed Tahir Efendi'nin tanıtılması amaçlanmıştır. Mısır'dan gelip Tarsus'a yerleştikleri için "Mısrîzâde" diye bilinen bir aileye mensup olan Ahmed Tahir Efendi 1840 yılında Tarsus'ta doğmuştur. Babası Tarsus meclis azası olduğu için erken denilebilecek bir yaşta memuriyete başlamıştır. Mülkiye teşkilatının çeşitli birimlerinde genellikle üst düzey görevlerde bulunduktan sonra 1889'da yine Tarsus'ta vefat etmiştir. 49 yaşında nispeten genç denilebilecek bir dönemde ölmüş olmasına rağmen, Tarsus'un dışında İstanbul, Ankara, Erzurum, Prizren, Girit,Selanik ve Yanya gibi birçok şehirde görev yapmıştır. Arşiv belgelerinin temel kaynak alındığı bu çalışmayla onun ailesi, eğitim ve meslek hayatı, ekonomik durumu ile kütüphanesinde bulunan kitapları ortaya çıkarılmıştır. Şu ana kadar onunla ilgili herhangi bir araştırmaya rastlanmamaktadır. Bu da yapılan çalışmanın özgün değerini ortaya koymaktadır. Her ne kadar mikro ölçekli bir inceleme olsa da, Ahmed Tahir Efendi'ye dair ulaşılan bulguların, onunla muadil görevlerde bulunan diğer memurlarının sosyo-ekonomik durumları ile entelektüel seviyeleri hakkında da bir fikir verecek olması, yapılan araştırmanın önemini arttırmaktadır