At first he studied in his hometown Tryavna and then in Ruse under the guidance of people like Petko Slaveykov and Dragan Tsankov.

During the time spent in Serbia he participated in the Second Bulgarian Legion in Belgrade alongside revolutionaries like Vasil Levski and Panayot Hitov.

[2] After the dismantle of the Legion Kanchev settled in Romania where he released in newspaper Dunavska zora a Proclamation in which he summons the Bulgarian people to start a revolution against the Ottoman oppressors.

After his return to Bulgaria Kanchev started working on a farm near Ruse, but did not give up on his revolutionary ideas.

In August 1871 Kanchev met with Levski in Lovech and was ordered to start agitating among the people of Northern Bulgaria so that they prepare for a future rebellion.