The Teispids (descendants of Teispes) (c. mid-7th century BC–522 BC) were an Iron Age branch of the Achaemenid dynasty originally ruling the southern Zagros, in ancient Anshan.
The dynasty's realm was later expanded under Cyrus II, who conquered a vast area in southwestern Asia, founding what was later known as the Achaemenid Empire under Darius I.
Pierre Briant places the formation of the kingdom of Anshan in this context, and dates Teispes' ascension to kingship c. 635 BC.
[3] No mention is made of Achaemenes, who according to a later genealogy provided by Darius the Great in the Behistun Inscription was the father of Teispes and the first King of Anshan.
According to Maria Brosius and Bruce Lincoln, Darius attempted to construct a lineage through common ancestry to the Teispid kings to legitimate his claim to the throne.