Qutayba initially turns towards Merv after leaving Khwarezm, for his army had grown weary and demanded an end to the campaign.

During the march, however, Qutayba suddenly turns the army around towards Samarkand.

The Sogdians have disbanded most of their forces, and the Arabs, reinforced with levies from Bukhara and Khwarezm, are able to brush aside the local resistance and advance straight to the city itself and lay siege to it.

Ghurak and the inhabitants of the city resist the Arabs with determination, and call upon the rulers of Shash (Tashkent) and the Ferghana Valley for aid.

The ruler of Shash indeed sends a strong army to aid them, but it is ambushed and destroyed by the Arabs.

The news of this arrives at the time where the Arab siege weapons had effected a breach in the city walls, forcing Ghurak to sue for peace.

Qutayba initially grants surprisingly lenient terms: the payment of an annual tribute and the provision of an auxiliary corps as with Bukhara and Khwarezm, as well as the construction of a mosque inside the city and the celebration of prayers there by the Arab army.

Once inside the city however, Qutayba proceeds to occupy and garrison it.

One of his brothers (accounts differ between Abd al-Rahman and Abdallah) is left as governor, and orders are given prohibiting any non-Muslim access to the city citadel.

Ghurak and his retinue leave the city and founded a new town, Farankath, further to the north.

Qutayba’s treachery has enabled him to bring most of Transoxiana under his tentative control, but it also considerably tarnishes his prestige among the Sogdians.