 Supported by troops from the rulers of Sogdia, Shash and Ferghana, the Turgesh attacked the Umayyad army within the pass, two days after they had left Kish (a Friday), at a distance of six farsakhs — ca. 24 kilometres (15 miles) — from Samarkand. The Turgesh attacked while the Arab army had stopped to take a meal. The Arab vanguard, under Uthman ibn 'Abdallah ibn al-Shikhkhir, was overwhelmed, but Junayd was able to hurriedly deploy the main body of his army, placing his troops according to their tribal affiliations, with the Tamim and Azd on the right, and the Rabi'ah on the left. The Arabs hurriedly erected earthworks in front of their lines, and the initial Turgesh attack, directed against the Arab right, was pushed back. Junayd, who had placed himself in the centre to direct the battle, then joined the ranks of the Azd, who greeted him with hostility: their standard-bearer is reported to have told him "If we win, it will be for your benefit; if we perish, you will not weep over us. By my life, if we win and I survive, I will never speak a word to you." Al-Tabari reports that this man and seventeen successive bearers of the same standard were killed during the battle, indicative of the fierceness of the fight. The Arabs initially met the Turgesh attack on horseback, but as their casualties mounted, Junayd's herald ordered them to dismount and fight on foot, crouching down behind the trenches and forming a spear-wall. This measure helped the Muslims hold their ground, and eventually both sides wearied and the battle ceased for the day. The most grievous casualties among the Arabs were suffered by the stragglers and baggage, who gathered under Abdallah ibn Mu'ammar ibn Sumayr al-Yashkuri near Kish: they were attacked by the Turgesh and virtually annihilated.
