He gradually removed slavery, strictly banned social classes, built schools and small factories.

After the death of his father at the age of 11, Amin began to lead a wandering lifestyle and indulged in teaching and learning.

[17] After learning that a warriorly scholar has arrived, thousands of families moved to the Abdzakh region to accept his rule.

[19] By the spring of 1849, the Abdzakh, Makhosh, Yegeruqway, and Chemguys declared their allegiance to the Naib; the Shapsugs along the Ubin River also promised support him with an alliance.

He called every Circassian in the region between the ages of 15 and 60 and asked them to repeat the shahada in order to confirm that all his men are really Muslims.

His rule was based on an iron fist, and he did not hesitate to force others to join him with his army[21][22] and impose brutal punishments on those who broke the laws.

He called Polish experts to build small-scale factories,[19] and established sub-districts of 100 families, led by governors.

The duty of a governor was to carry out the orders given from above and to place the desired number of armed warriors under the command of the Naib.

He brought the Murtaziq units, previously used in Dagestan, to Circassia with a strategy of releasing prisoners of war in exchange for their conversion to Islam and loyalty.

As a result of Imam Shamil's demands for a more effective struggle, he disrupted the general strategy of the Circassians to stay on the defensive and directed 101 attacks against the Russian positions throughout 1849.

A significant part of the population, especially those who submitted recently, began to ignore the Naib's orders, causing the administrative system of Circassia to collapse.

The people, led by the Russian-backed opposition leaders, set fire to government buildings and expelled the Naib's personal army from the region.

On 9 October 1853, the Ottoman Sultan sent a letter to Imam Shamil and suggested that he should declare a holy war against Russia.

[7] Meanwhile, the Ottoman Empire, who wanted a Circassian puppet government and did not recognize Muhammad Amin as the ruler of Circassia, was preparing to send Seferbiy Zaneqo (Zanzade Sefer Bey), a former Circassian commander in the Russo-Circassian War who had declared loyalty to the sultan, to lead Circassia instead.

Amin, who now had no power or allies left, went to a Russian military camp and declared his surrender and moved to Turkey.

[7][55] Seferbiy Zaneqo, however, could not make use of this to increase his authority, as he lost the support of the Ottomans and died a year later from wounds received in battle.