ThePishteginids (Bishkinids, Pishkinids) were a dynasty ofmaliks inIran which ruled, from 1155 to 1231,Ahar and its adjacent district as vassals to theShaddadids ofArran. The family descended from aGeorgian nobleman captured by theSeljuqidsultanAlp Arslan during his 1068 expedition against Georgia and brought as a prisoner to Iran. The dynasty fell to theKhwarezmian conquests between 1225 and 1231. The last two dynasts of the family issued their own coins, placing their names next to those of the Caliph andEldiguzid atabeg.[1][2] The name ofMeshkinshahr, a town east of Ahar, seems to have been derived from the Pishkinid dynasty.[3]