Adsorbents prepared from pistachio nut shell, an agricultural waste biomass, were successfully used to remove Acid Violet 17 from an aqueous solution. The activated carbons PNS1, PNS2, and PNS3 were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier Transform - Infra Red spectroscopy (FTIR) and (BET). The effect of pH, adsorbent dosage, and temperature on dye removal was studied. Maximum color removal was observed at pH 2. The adsorption increased with the increase in adsorbent dosage. As the adsorption capacity increased with the increase in temperature, the process was concluded to be endothermic. The experimental data were analyzed by the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models of adsorption. Equilibrium data fitted well with the Langmuir model. The rates of adsorption confirmed the pseudo-second order kinetics with good correlation values. The results indicated that the activated carbon prepared from pistachio nut shell can be effectively used for the removal of Acid Violet 17 from aqueous solution.