Sardar Abdur Rab Nishtar (13 June 1899 – 14 February 1958) was a Pakistani independence activist and politician from the North-West Frontier Province (present-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa).

His father, Maulvi Abdul Hannan was a prominent figure from the Pashtun Kakar tribe that had fiercely opposed the British rule in South Asia.

[citation needed] His appointment was blocked by senior secularists and liberal officials including the future President Iskander Mirza because of Nishtar's conservative and Islamic views.

In 1956, when the first Pakistani constitution was adopted, Sardar Abdur Rab Nishtar was elected president of the Muslim League against the wishes of President Iskandar Mirza and then prime minister Chaudhry Mohammad Ali who were backing Dr. Khan Sahib from the Republican Party as West Pakistan chief minister while Nishtar wanted a Muslim League man for the office.

But a big majority of the League leaders, including Nawab Mushtaq Ahmad Gurmani and Mumtaz Daultana, supported Iskander Mirza.

At one point during their association, Muhammad Ali Jauhar had told Nishtar that he opposed Jinnah for re-organization of the All-India Muslim League.

After finding out all the details of Jinnah-Jauhar discussion, Nishtar decided to support Jinnah's proposal and even succeeded in convincing Jauhar to do the same.

Safwat Ghayur (Shaheed) the widely respected and venerated AIGP (police) officer who was martyred in the line of duty was a nephew of Nishtar.