Arif Efendi

Allah alone is the Eternal Creator.

Arif Bey, a former chief accountant, was sent to the island of Cyprus on official duty by a royal decree and took up residence there. It was there, by the will of God, that he passed away into the eternal realm. May the Fatiha be recited for the soul of the late Arif Efendi, who is in need of Allah’s forgiveness.

1227 / M. 1812

Chief Accountant Sent to Cyprus from the Ottoman Finance Administration

1227 / M. 1812

Ârif Efendi was an official who served in the Ottoman finance bureaucracy and was sent to Cyprus by the state. His tombstone refers to him as a former chief accountant and treasurer. This description indicates that he was an experienced official within the state’s financial and accounting administration.

One of the most significant pieces of information on the inscription is that it clearly states that Ârif Efendi was not an ordinary individual who had come to Cyprus of his own volition, but had been appointed ‘bâ-fermân-ı âlî’, that is, by a high state decree. He passed away whilst residing in Cyprus and was buried there. In this respect, Ârif Efendi’s grave can be regarded as one of the important historical records documenting the presence on the island of bureaucrats appointed by the Ottoman central administration to oversee Cyprus’s financial administration.