Battle at Zerabulak Heights

On June 8, General Kaufman liberated Samarkand , defeating the Bukhara army besieging him. In order to finally defeat the Bukharaites and prevent repeated attacks on the fortresses, a campaign was undertaken in the direction of Bukhara . Soon after the fall of Samarkand, the strong fortress of Katta-Kurgan was taken.

Meanwhile, it became known that a large Bukhara army was gathering at the Zerabulak heights, located about halfway from Samarkand to Bukhara. According to intelligence, there were about 30 thousand people in it. Having received such news, General Kaufman, leaving a small garrison in Samarkand, decided with the main forces to advance towards the enemy. 1.7 thousand foot soldiers and 300 horse-drawn Cossacks took part in the campaign; they had 14 guns and 6 rocket machines.

On the night of June 2 (14), 1868 , even before sunrise, the Russian detachment approached the Zerabulak heights. At their foot stood the Bukhara infantry, behind it, on a hill - 14 guns and a mass of cavalry. The battle began at 4 a.m. Colonel Alexander Pistolkors , who commanded the vanguard, led his soldiers into an attack on the left flank of the enemy. At the same time, the Cossacks moved, and the artillery began firing on buckshot at the enemy infantry. The Bukhara people, who did not expect such pressure, wavered and fled. The Cossacks rushed in pursuit, but the Bukhara infantry, as soon as it came out from under the shelling, again lined up and began to retreat in an organized manner, firing back and defending itself according to all the rules. Nevertheless, the entire hollow along which they retreated was covered with the bodies of Bukhara soldiers.

On the right flank, a battalion of 280 Russian infantry who went to hand-to-hand combat was unexpectedly surrounded by Bukhara soldiers: enemy infantry was crowding in front, and cavalry came from the rear. There was no way to help them, but, suddenly rushing into a bayonet attack, our soldiers overthrew the enemy and rid themselves of the encirclement, losing only 17 people wounded.

The entire Bukhara army began to retreat gradually, first in order, and then - throwing weapons and ammunition. By 10 o'clock in the morning everything was over, the heights were cleared of the enemy. Among the trophies of General Kaufman’s detachment was an artillery gun and 40 pack boxes with shells ^[1] .

The Russian troops included an artist, lieutenant Nikolai Nikolaevich Karazin . He distinguished himself on the Zerabulak heights, where his saber was broken in hand-to-hand combat. When General Kaufman saw this, he said that since Karazin had "ruined" his weapons, he would send him another. Soon Nikolai Nikolaevich received from the commander a golden weapon with the inscription "For courage." Subsequently, Karazin captured the events of the battle in which he took part in the film “The Battle of Zerabulak”. This canvas colorfully shows the swift attack of the Russian soldiers and the stampede of the Bukhara army.

As a result of the defeat at the Zerabulak heights, Emir Muzaffar left only 200 people of his own convoy and a little more than a thousand soldiers of the defeated army. Soon, Muzaffar requested peace, and a peace treaty was concluded on the terms proposed by General Kaufman, fully taking into account the interests of the Russian Empire. Bukhara became a protectorate of Russia ^[2] .