In 1781, he was appointed and approved by his brother, the Crimean Khan Şahin Giray, serasker of the Edichkul horde.
Ruling since 1777, Khan Shahin Gerai carried out pro-Russian radical reforms in Crimea, in particular, equalizing Muslim and non-Muslim populations.
Reforms were extremely unpopular, and in 1781 led to an uprising that began in the Kuban and quickly spread to the Crimea.
By July 1782, an uprising completely swept the entire peninsula, the khan was forced to flee, and his administration officials, who had not managed to escape, were killed.
The troops were commanded in the Crimea by Anton Bogdanovich Balmen, and in the Kuban by Alexander Vasilievich Suvorov.