Türkiye Occupations

Personnel Dossiers and Pension Records of the Ottoman Empire
These records are personnel files of Ottoman military personnel and bureaucrats. From the early 1800s the Ottoman Empire undertook programs of modernization which initially emphasized military reforms but which also eventually affected the governmental administration. Bureaucracies were expanded and reorganized. The need to pay, promote, and give retirement benefits to large numbers of civil employees and soldiers obliged the government to keep detailed personnel records.

Records are generally available for 1800-1923. They contain names of soldiers and civil employees; ages; birth date; birthplace; service information including promotions, etc; dependents’ names and details about them. There is no specific archive where they may be found. Perhaps less than 15% of the population may be recorded. Records may be in provincial (sancak) administrative offices. They may also be in the National Archives (Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi), also referred to as the Prime Ministry Archives, the Sulaymaniye Library in Istanbul, or in an archive in Ankara.