# List of Nishan-e-Imtiaz recipients

This is list of recipients of the Nishan-e-Imtiaz, listed in chronological order. The Nishan-e-Imtiaz (Urdu: نشان امتیاز; transl. Order of Excellence) is one of the state organized civil decorations of Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
It is awarded for achievements towards world recognition for Pakistan or outstanding service for the country. However, the award is not limited to citizens of Pakistan and, while it is a civilian award, it can also be awarded to military personnel and worn on the uniform. Nishan, translates as Decoration/Order, is a highly restricted and prestigious award roughly equivalent to Presidential Medal of Freedom (United States) and Order of the British Empire (United Kingdom), and is the first category award of Order of Imtiaz. The other three descending categories are Hilal-i-Imtiaz, Sitara-i-Imtiaz and Tamgha-e-Imtiaz. Usually, it is regarded as the highest award one can achieve in Pakistan since the higher award Nishan-e-Pakistan is awarded only to foreign Heads of States.

## List

| Name of the recipient | Field of recognition | Year | Country |
| Muhammad Tantawi | Defense | 1950 | Egypt |
| Abdul Ghafoor | Theology | 1958 | Pakistan |
| Aga Khan IV | Philanthropy | 1970 | Switzerland |
| Ratna Rajya Lakshmi Devi | Philanthropy | 1970 | Nepal |
| Abdus Salam | Science, theoretical | 1979 | Pakistan |
| Abdul Sattar Edhi | Philanthropy | 1989 | Pakistan |
| Faiz Ahmed Faiz | Literature, Urdu | 1990 | Pakistan |
| Abdul Waheed Kakar | Defense | 1993 | Pakistan |
| Rudini | Defense | | Indonesia |
| Try Sutrisno | Defense | | Indonesia |
| Feisal Tanjung | Defense | 1995 | Indonesia |
| Hartono | Defense | | Indonesia |
| Abdul Qadeer Khan | Science, materials | 1996 | Pakistan |
| Ishfaq Ahmad | Science, nuclear | 1998 | Pakistan |
| Dilip Kumar | Fine arts | 1998 | India |
| Riazuddin | Science, theoretical | 1998 | Pakistan |
| Sharifuddin Pirzada | Law | 1998 | Pakistan |
| Raziuddin Siddiqui | Science, theoretical | 1998 | Pakistan |
| Abdul Qadeer Khan | Science, nuclear | 1999 | Pakistan |
| Akhtar Hameed Khan | Economics | 2001 | Pakistan |
| Shahid Karimullah | Defense | 2002 | Pakistan |
| Shaista Suhrawardy Ikramullah | social work | 2002 | Bengal |
| Atta ur Rahman | Science, organic | 2002 | Pakistan |
| Hakim Said | Philanthropy | 2002 | Pakistan |
| Samar Mubarakmand | Science, nuclear | 2004 | Pakistan |
| Yaşar Büyükanıt | Defense | 2007 | Turkey |
| Habib Jalib | Literature, Urdu | 2009 | Pakistan |
| Khurshid Ahmad | Economics | 2011 | Pakistan |
| Mehdi Hassan | Fine arts | 2012 | Pakistan |
| Saadat Hassan Manto | Literature, Urdu | 2012 | Pakistan |
| Abdul Sattar Edhi | Philanthropy | 2012 | Pakistan |
| Munir Ahmad Khan | Science, nuclear | 2012 | Pakistan |
| Rahimuddin Khan | Defense | | Pakistan |
| Rashad Mahmood | Defense | 2013 | Pakistan |
| General Tariq Majid | Defense | 2013 | Pakistan |
| Hilmi Özkök | Defense | 2013 | Turkey |
| Shafi ur Rahman | Law | 2013 | Pakistan |
| Sherry Rehman | Diplomacy | 2013 | Pakistan |
| Anwar Shamim | Defense | 2013 | Pakistan |
| Raheel Sharif | Defense | 2013 | Pakistan |
| Ghulam Nabi | Science, shock physics (detonics) | 2014 | Pakistan |
| Marsetio | Defense | 2014 | Indonesia |
| Asma Jahangir | Women's rights | 2018 | Pakistan |
| Admiral Ravindra C. Wijegunaratne | Defense | 2019 | Sri Lanka |
| Sadruddin Hashwani | Philanthropy | 2019 | Pakistan |
| Jansher Khan | Sports, Squash | 2023 | Pakistan |
| Qavi Khan | Fine arts | 2023 | Pakistan |
| Iftikhar Arif | Literature | 2023 | Pakistan |
| Mujahid Anwar Khan | Defense | 2023 | Pakistan |
| Nadeem Raza | Defense | 2023 | Pakistan |
| Shamshad Akhtar | Economics | 2024 | Pakistan |
| Metin Gürak | Defense | 2024 | Türkiye |