Early years

He was a chamberlain of a defterdar

Defterdar

Defterdars were top officials in charge of the finances in the Ottoman Empire, including heads of the Ottoman provincial treasuries; they were responsible for defters....

 (in Ottoman bureaucracy highest post in treasury). During the reign of Murad IV

Murad IV

Murad IV Ghazi was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1623 to 1640, known both for restoring the authority of the state and for the brutality of his methods...

 in 1636, he was appointed as the defterdar. During the reign of İbrahim

Ibrahim I

Ibrahim I was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1640 until 1648. He was born in Istanbul the son of Ahmed I by Valide Sultan Kadinefendi Kösem Sultan, an ethnic Greek originally named Anastasia...

 in 1645 he was dismissed. During his retirement he became a member of Mevlevi Order gaining the title Mevlevi or Sofu. During disturbances just before the dethronement of İbrahim in 1648, the grand vizier had left the office and the jannisary leaders forced the sultan to appoint Sofu Mehmed Pasha as the grand vizier. The sultan reluctantly agreed. on 7 August 1648. Nevertheless, the sultan was dethroned five days after his appointment. But Sofu Mehmed Pasha was afraid of the former sultan, because there was an increasing tendency to rethrone him among the other statesmen. İbrahim was killed ten days after dethronement. Probably Sofu Mehmed Pasha was personally present during his execution.

As a Grand vizier

The new sultan Mehmed IV

Mehmed IV

Mehmed IV Modern Turkish Mehmet was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1648 to 1687...

 was only 7 years old and the queen regent Kösem Sultan (İbrahim’s mother and Mehmed’s Grand mother) was suspicious of Sofu Mehmed because of his role in the execution of İbrahim. Another problem of Sofu Mehmed was the economy. His priority in the government was the treasury. He limited the spendings. But this policy caused reactions among the sipahi

Sipahi

Sipahi was the name of several Ottoman cavalry corps...

 troops and they revolted. Sofu Mehmed saved his life by taking refuge behind jannisary troops. Although he saved his life, the jannisary gained too much power and soon Kara Murad Pasha

Kara Murad Pasha

Kara Murad Pasha or Kara Dev Murad Pasha was a mid-17th century Ottoman statesman and military officer. He served as Kapudan Pasha and twice as Grand Vizier. His epithets refer to his courage and to his size....

, the commander of jannisary took sides against Sofu Mehmed. The defeat of the Ottoman navy in the Battle of Focchies

Battle of Focchies

The naval Battle of Focchies took place on 12 May 1649, during the Cretan War, off Focchies, near Smyrna in western Turkey, when a Venetian fleet of 19 ships, under Giacomo Riva, defeated an Ottoman fleet of 11 ships, 10 galleasses and 72 galleys....

 on 12 May 1649 was a further blow to Sofu Mehmed Pasha.

Death

On 21 May 1649 he was replaced by Kara Murad Pasha. He was exiled to Malkara

Malkara

Malkara is a town and district of Tekirdağ Province in the Marmara region of Turkey. It is located at 55 km west of Tekirdağ and 190 km from Istanbul. It covers an area of 1,225 km², which makes the district the largest in Tekirdağ. Population of the town is 25,000 with another...

 (a town in European Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

) and soon Kara Murad Pasha had him executed in August 1649.