One version reached Europe in the 11th century. 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.
It is 'certainly the most frequently translated literary product of India', and these stories are among the most widely known in the world. 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'. 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. The surviving work is dated to about 200 BCE, but the fables are likely much more ancient.
The Panchatantra ( IAST: Pañcatantra, ISO: Pañcatantra, Sanskrit: पञ्चतन्त्र, 'Five Treatises') is an ancient Indian collection of interrelated animal fables in Sanskrit verse and prose, arranged within a frame story. A Panchatantra relief at the Mendut temple, Central Java, Indonesia
