Vasily Perovsky set out from Orenburg with 5,000 men, met an unusually cold winter, lost most of his camels, and was forced to turn back after going halfway.

In 1717, Alexander Bekovich-Cherkassky attacked Khiva and was soundly defeated, only a few men escaping to tell the tale.

The Khanate of Khiva was situated south of the Aral Sea in the delta of the Oxus River.

The Russians could easily defeat the Khivan army but they first had to move enough troops across the hostile steppe.

Orenburg was long the base from which Russia watched and tried to control the steppes to the east and south.

From the early nineteenth century an increasing number of Russian fishermen were captured on the Caspian Sea.

After other attempts to pressure the Khan had failed, in August 1836 Russia ordered the arrest of all Khivan merchants in Russian territory – about 572 people and 1,400,000 silver rubles in goods.

In late September, Khan Allah Quli Bahadur said he would release his Russians, but when the caravan arrived there were only 25, almost all old men who had been in slavery for 30 or 40 years.

The land around Khiva has enough grass and water to support a thin nomadic population, but not enough for an army.

As one moves south, grass and water diminish, as did Russian knowledge of the ground, an important matter for an army marching from one waterhole to the next.

In June Colonel Heke went south with two companies and 1200 carts to explore the route and establish advanced depots.

He reached the Emba River on 30 June and sent a smaller group forward to establish the next depot.

The Aq Bulaq River [a] 100 miles south was chosen and a fort was built there in August.

For 40 kilometers north of Aq Bulaq there were salt marshes with no adequate water or grass.

(One writer says that the camel drivers knew the country and correctly guessed that the expedition would fail, something that Perovsky was forced to admit a month later,[1] Also about this time word was received from the Caspian.

In January the columns began leaving Fort Emba, the main one reaching Aq Bulak on 6 February, covering about 100 miles in 16 days.

Given the rate of loss of men and camels it was clear that if the army reached Khiva it would be in no condition to fight.

Bizyanov attacked the Adaev tribe at mouth of the Emba, killed 450 men, and brought back a large number of camels.

The troops began leaving the Emba on 30 May, encountered nothing worse than mud and by late June were dispersed along the Orenburg Line.

[4][g] It was noted that the death rate for the Ural Cossacks was 1 in 200 and among the Orenburg Infantry 1 in 14, the difference being ascribed to habituation to steppe campaigning.