Database: Kalila and Dimna

The Crow, the Cobra and the Jackal, a Tale from Kalila wa Dimna / 13-century Baghdad, Iraq

Caliphs' sons were raised in the harem, away from the world they might come to rule. Many means existed to educate them about it, from tutors to special administrative jobs. Among them was the so-called "mirror of princes" literary genre, in which lessons were offered through parables. The most famous example is Kalila wa Dimna.

This collection of fables tells the story of a king, Debshleem, who seeks the counsel of the wise Bidpai on matters of statesmanship and court politics. The old man responds with interwoven stories featuring animals, in particular the two jackals Kalila and Dimna who attempt to gain admission into the lion king's inner circle through the telling of clever animal tales.

Kalila wa Dimna's creation followed the same path as many other texts of the time. The text first appeared in a third-century BCE Indian text called the Panchatantra and was translated from a Middle Persian version into Arabic around 750. New elements were added at each step. The translator, Ibn al-Muqaffa, was a prolific writer and one of the most notable intellectuals in the Abbasid court, producing both translations and original works. His corpus not only introduced Indian and Persian works to a popular audience, but also preserved them for future generations. Kalila wa Dimna has since inspired many other collections of stories, from Machiavelli's The Prince to the Fables de La Fontaine, and is still widely read today.