Born in Topojan in the Luma region of the Sanjak of Prizren, Sinan was most likely of Albanian ethnicity. The villages around Topojan were ethnically mixed, probably with Slavic predominance (leading some Serb historians to claim a Serb origin), although Topojan had an Albanian majority.
Sinan Pasha was appointed governor of Ottoman Egypt in 1569, and was subsequently involved until 1571 in the conquest of Yemen, becoming known as Fātiḥ-i Yemen ("Victor of Yemen").
In 1580, Sinan commanded the army against the Safavids in the Ottoman–Safavid War (1578–1590), and was appointed grand vizier by Sultan Murad III. He was, however, disgraced and exiled in the following year, owing to the defeat of his lieutenant Mehmed Pasha, at Gori (during an attempt to provision the Ottoman garrison of Tbilisi).
He subsequently became governor of Damascus and, in 1589, after the great revolt of the Janissaries, was appointed grand vizier for the second time. He was involved in the competition for the throne in Wallachia between Mihnea Turcitul and Petru Cercel, and ultimately sided with the former (overseeing Petru's execution in March 1590). Another revolt of Janissaries led to his dismissal in 1591, but in 1593 he was again recalled to become grand vizier for the third time, and in the same year he commanded the Ottoman army in the Long War against the Habsburgs, he was faced with massive casualties on the northern front, which was weakened by the death of Bosnian commander Telli Hasan Pasha during the Battle of Sisak. In 1594 during the Uprising in Banat, he ordered for the relics (remains) of Saint Sava to be brought from Mileševa to Belgrade, where he then had them set on fire, in order to discourage the Serbs. In spite of his victories he was again deposed in February 1595, shortly after the accession of Mehmed III, and banished to Malkara. In August, Sinan was in power again, called on to lead the expedition against Prince Michael the Brave of Wallachia. His defeat in the Battle of Călugăreni, the Battle of Giurgiu, and the series of unsuccessful confrontations with the Habsburgs (culminating in the devastating siege and fall of Ottoman-held Esztergom), brought him once more into disfavour, and he was deprived of the seal of office (19 November).
The death of his successor Lala Mehmed Pasha three days later caused Sinan to become grand vizier for the fifth time. He died suddenly in the spring of 1596, leaving behind a large fortune.
Sinan Pasha became grand vizier five times between 1580 and his death in 1596.
He was a major builder of caravanserais, bridges, baths and mosques. These included the town of Kaçanik in Kosovo, important buildings in Thessalonika and Belgrade, as well as in Istanbul and other countries in the Arab world.
In a Ragusan document of 1571 listing members of the Ottoman Sultan's governing council, Sinan is described as having been a "Catholic Albanian" by origin. Documents from the late part of his life call his father Ali Bey, suggesting that Sinan was born a Muslim, however, it is more likely he came from a Catholic family, strongly suggested by the fact that the family had ties to the Giubizzas.
He had many rivals but he was also a very wealthy man.
