As they moved forward with their right flank on the River Kohik (River Zarafshan) which runs from Samarkand towards Bukhara, they were met by the enemy drawn up ready to receive them.
The Hanafi school of thought of Sunnism is the most popular, with Shiism of Imami and Ismaili denominations predominating in the Pamir plateau and the western Tian Shan mountains (almost exclusively Ismailis), while boasting to a large minority population in the Zarafshan river valley, from Samarkand to Bukhara (almost exclusively Imamis).
The entire population of the city and the surrounding oasis of about 100,000 were then deported in several stages to the Bukharan oasis and the Zarafshan Valley.
In 1874, he transferred to the 6th Turkestan Infantry Battalion, with which he participated in two expeditions under General Alexander Konstantinovich Abramov in the Russian conquest of the Zarafshan Valley, during which he was awarded the Order of St. Anne (3rd degree with swords and bow) for bravery in combat.