In this paper, adaptive backstepping control is implemented with a three link manipulator. The adaptive backstepping algorithm is designed to stabilize the nonlinear dynamics of the system. The idea of backstepping design is to drive the error equation to zero by implementing a virtual control strategy and parameter adjustment laws. This design technique is applicable to both linear and nonlinear systems. In this paper, the parameters of the manipulator are assumed to be initially unknown. They can be estimated by using the adaptive backstepping mechanism design. Simulation results are presented to show the performance of the backstepping and adaptive backstepping control.