Panchatantra

The ''Panchatantra'' (IAST: Pañcatantra, ISO: Pañcatantra, , "Five Treatises") is an ancient Indian collection of interrelated animal fables in Sanskrit verse and prose, arranged within a frame story. The surviving work is dated to about 200 BCE, but the fables are likely much more ancient. The text's author is unknown, but it has been attributed to Vishnu Sharma in some recensions and Vasubhaga in others, both of which may be fictitious pen names. It is likely a Hindu text, and based on older oral traditions with "animal fables that are as old as we are able to imagine".

It is "certainly the most frequently translated literary product of India", and these stories are among the most widely known in the world. It goes by many names in many cultures. There is a version of ''Panchatantra'' in nearly every major language of India, and in addition there are 200 versions of the text in more than 50 languages around the world. One version reached Europe in the 11th century. To quote :

The earliest known translation, into a non-Indian language, is in Middle Persian (Pahlavi, 550 CE) by Burzoe. This became the basis for a Syriac translation as ''Kalilag and Damnag'' and a translation into Arabic in 750 CE by Persian scholar Abdullah Ibn al-Muqaffa as ''Kalīlah wa Dimnah''. A New Persian version by Rudaki, from the 9th-10th century CE, became known as ''Kalīleh o Demneh''. Rendered in prose by Abu'l-Ma'ali Nasrallah Monshi in 1143 CE, this was the basis of Kashefi's 15th-century ''Anvār-i Suhaylī'' (The Lights of Canopus), which in turn was translated into ''Humayun-namah'' in Turkish. The book is also known as ''The Fables of Bidpai'' (or Pilpai in various European languages, Vidyapati in Sanskrit) or ''The Morall Philosophie of Doni'' (English, 1570). Most European versions of the text are derivative works of the 12th-century Hebrew version of ''Panchatantra'' by Rabbi Joel. In Germany, its translation in 1480 by has been widely read. Several versions of the text are also found in Indonesia, where it is titled as ''Tantri Kamandaka'', ''Tantravakya'' or ''Candapingala'' and consists of 360 fables. In Laos, a version is called ''Nandaka-prakarana'', while in Thailand it has been referred to as ''Nang Tantrai''. Provided by Wikipedia