Tahir Efendi is also referred as Tahir Efendi Boshnjaku (the Bosnian) because of his birthplace, the village of Lukare near Yeni Pazar, back then part of the Sanjak of Novi Pazar of the Bosnia Eyalet of the Ottoman Empire. He was a scion of the Saraçi clan, part of the Kastrati tribe. He is also known as the Great Efendi because he was the first müderris of the Small Madrasa of Yakova, located in the "Mahmud Pasha" neighborhood.