Salih Safi Paşa

Salih Safî Paşa was born in 1832 in Podgorica, today the capital of Montenegro, and was the son of Hacı Ali Bey.

He began his education at the Podgorica Primary School and continued at the Shkodra Madrasa, studying Arabic, Persian, geometry and geography. He was a provincial administrator who could read and write Turkish, Serbian and Croatian, and spoke Albanian.

Salih Safî Paşa entered government service at the age of 23 in the Shkodra Correspondence Office, later worked in the Aydın Correspondence Office, and took part in the Montenegro War of 1861-1862. After his duties in the Balkans, he served as sanjak governor in various districts such as Siirt, Muş and Prizren.

For his services in the Montenegro War and the firmness he showed against bandits in Zadrime, he was awarded various ranks and orders and rose to the pâyeleri of Mîr-i Mîrân and Rumelian Beylerbeyi. A pâye in the Ottoman bureaucracy was a title given as a degree of rank and prestige rather than because the person was actually performing the office.

Podgoriçeli Bîsebzikzâde Salih Safî Paşa died on 23 Sha‘ban 1317 (27 December 1899) and was buried in the Fatih Mosque Cemetery.