Muhammed Shoqan Shyngysuly Qanafiya Walikhanov was born in November 1835 in the newly developed Aman-Karagai district within the Kushmurun fort in what is nowadays the Kostanay Province, Kazakhstan.

Shoqan's family was very respected by the government of the Russian Empire, and Walikhanov's father was awarded, during his life, six appointments as senior Sultan of Kushmurun okrug, a term as chief Kazakh advisor to the frontier board, a promotion to Colonel, and a separate term as senior Sultan in the Kokshetau okrug.

At an early age Shoqan moved from his father’s home to the estate of his paternal grandmother Aiganym, in Syrymbet.

After graduating from the Omsk Cadet School, where he read not only Russian but also English literature, Walikhanov traveled extensively in Central Asia in the late 1850s.

Serving as a decoy to the geo-political intentions of the mission, Walikhanov embarked with a caravan of 43 men, 101 camels and 65 horses.

Over the course of a half-year, Walikhanov took meticulous notes regarding major towns, including maps, the goods in the bazaars, the languages spoken and the customs practiced.

Walikhanov also mentioned campaigning for a political position in the West-Siberian Governor Generalship, centered in Tobolsk, like his father.

In 1862, he successfully ran for senior Sultan, but Governor-General Alexander Duhamel ru:Дюгамель, Александр Осипович refused to confirm his position due to Walikhanov's health.

During this time, letters of correspondence to General Kolpakovski, military governor of Semipalatinsk oblast, dated between November 1864 through February 1865, addressed Muslim revolts and rebel activity in nearby Qulja.

The two men were also closely acquainted with renowned geographer Peter Semenov Tian-Shansky and Baron A. E. Wrangel, who came to Semipalatinsk from Petersburg in 1854 to serve as the new district prosecutor.

Walikhanov's published presentation of Manas, reflecting his familiarity and engagement with Russian literary culture,[11] has shaped future understanding of the epic.

[12] Walikhanov's report of his trip to Kashgar in 1858-59 remains a valuable account on the situation in Xinjiang in the aftermath of Wali Khan's invasion of the region and on the eve of the Muslim Rebellion of the 1860s.

It is located in the Kerbulak district of Almaty region, on the road to the singing Dunes, among the tract at the foot of the Maly Kalkan Mountains.