This article investigates the problem pertained to adaptive backstepping control technique for a class of fractional order nonlinear systems. By the aid of the frequency distributed model, the true state space model of fractional order systems is obtained. Then, a novel adaptive backstepping control scheme is proposed. To improve the control performance, tracking differentiator, nonlinear element and fractional order adjusting law are introduced. The stability of closed-loop control system is analyzed using indirect Lyapunov method. The advantages and disadvantages, limitation are further discussed finally.