In his youth, Shir Muhammad-bey led the life of a peasant, was a mirab, which means he divided water along irrigation ditches. In childhood or adolescence, he suffered some kind of eye disease and therefore always wore dark glasses. Hence the widespread nickname Korshirmat, which is translated from Uzbek as Blind Shermat. He studied reading and writing in his native village from the mullah, then graduated from the madrasah in Margilan. According to unconfirmed reports, Shir Mohammed-bek actively participated in the 1916 uprising. Shir Muhhamed's son Davron and his cousin Anvar claim that their father and uncle, respectively, never left Turkestan before Civil War and was never imprisoned in Russian jail. But that claim is disputed by famous Bashkir Turkologist Zaki Validi. The fact that Shir Muhhamed was released from jail soon after the revolution is confirmed in memoirs of Uzbek emigre Abduhamid Cochar from Adana. Relatives describe that in the summer of 1917, during a demonstration in the vicinity of Tashlak, Shir Muhammad-bey stood up for a fellow countryman who was beaten by a policeman and "hit the policeman, knocking him off his horse" and then "beat him to death." Shir Mohammed-bey, his brothers and friends were forced into hiding, after which he, together with his supporters, attacked the prison in Skobelev to arm himself.