Lala Moustapha Pasha was born in Sokol county of Bosnia. He entered the palace with the help of his elder brother who was a vizier in the council of Sultan Selim I. While he was working as a barber he impressed Sultan Suleyman (The Lawgiver). He was promoted with higher positions but he was sent away from the palace as a governor as a result of his intrigues. He was appointed as the tutor of Shahzadah Selim (Sultan Selim II) who was the governor of Manisa, at that time. He troubled the relation between Selim and his brother Bayezid. He was sent to Van, then Erzurum, Halep and Sam. Later he returned to Istanbul and became a vizier in the Divan (State Council). He convinced the sultan to conquer Cyprus and after the war lasted one year the island joined in to the Ottoman territories, in 1570. Then Mustafa Pasha was appointed as the Erzurum Army Commander and he campaigned to Iran and entered Tiflis in 1578. He conquered Georgia and Sirvan. He stayed in the east until 1580, he was dismissed and was called back to Istanbul following the death of Sokullu Mehmed Pasha. He was appointed as the second vizier. In the same year he died in Istanbul.

©Copyright 1999 FORSNeT (All Rights Reserved)