"Bey" is actually a title, which he received on becoming the chief of Or Qapı (Perekop) sanjak, an important position in the Crimean Khanate, since the Isthmus of Perekop is the neck to Crimean Peninsula and was crucial to its defense.

By 1644 he had enough authority for the Khan of Crimea to entrust to him leadership of the major Tatar expedition against Poland.

However, Tuhay Bey's army was intercepted by the Polish army under hetman Koniecpolski before reaching the densely populated regions of Ukraine and defeated in the First Battle of Okhmativ.

In 1648, he brought an army (estimated 6,000–20,000) to help Bohdan Khmelnytsky during the Cossack uprising against the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Henryk Sienkiewicz made a character in his third novel "Pan Wołodyjowski" - Tuhay Bey's son - Azja.