In 1467 Mengli occupied the capital of Kyrk-Er (Chufut-Kale) but was soon driven out by Nur Devlet and fled to the Genoese at Kaffa.

After six months Nur Devlet was expelled and fled to the North Caucasus, but was captured and imprisoned in the Genoese fortress at Sudak.

From late 1473 Eminek made himself head of the Shirin clan which held the eastern peninsula of Crimea.

In the winter of 1477–78 Crimea was briefly conquered by Janibeg, a nephew of Akhmed Khan of the Great Horde.

He was joined by Eminek's troops, Nur Devlet was driven out and Mengli became khan as a Turkish vassal.

[2] In 1480, Meñli entered into a treaty of alliance with Ivan III, the grand prince of Moscow.

In September 1482, Meñli managed to ravage Kiev, in which Ivan Chodkiewicz and his family were taken hostage.

Meñli often depended on troops from the Crimea's numerous Italian trading cities, and Genoese mercenaries formed a significant part of his army.