Ryskulov was born on 26 December 1894 in East-Talgar volost of Semirechensk Province (now Talgar District of Almaty Region), in the family of a nomadic herder. He took part in the Central Asian revolt of 1916 and then in the Russian Revolution in Turkestan and Kyrgyzstan. He defended a view that all the Turkic nations should form one state and one communist party. His policy was rejected and his party was ordered to join Russian Communist Party. He was executed in 1938 during the Great Purge being accused of being a National Communist. Today he is considered a national hero and honored with a large statue at the entrance of Kazakhstan Economic University in Almaty.