Mehmed Raif Bey

Seyyid Mehmed Râif Bey, whose date of birth has not been identified, was a member of the Dîvân-ı Muhasebât who served in the late Ottoman finance bureaucracy. His being remembered with the title “Seyyid” shows that his family preserved its affiliation with the Prophet’s lineage.

The Dîvân-ı Muhasebât, established in 1862, was responsible for auditing state revenues and expenditures and forms the institutional basis of the Court of Accounts in the Republican period.

Râif Bey’s rise within the Dîvân-ı Muhasebât can be followed in institutional lists. In the 1892 organization he appears as first examiner in the First Chamber, and in the 1897 organization as chief examiner in the Second Chamber.

The presence of a Mevlevi sikke on Mehmed Râif Bey’s gravestone is also noteworthy. This detail shows that he was not only a financial bureaucrat but also a Sufi connected with the Mevlevi order.

Seyyid Mehmed Râif Bey died in 1916 and was buried in the Fatih Mosque Cemetery.