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Iran: Miniature painting of Bidpai's 'Kalila wa Dimna', mid-14th century.

Iran: Miniature painting of Bidpai's 'Kalila wa Dimna', mid-14th century.

A number of manuscripts were made under the Injuids in Shiraz that were clearly influenced by Il-Khanid painting, but also had their own style, with characteristic earth colors and trees with large flowers. The Indian animal fables told in Kalila wa Dimna should be considered a “mirror for princes,” didactic stories intended to teach young nobles to rule wisely. We see a fox that has greedily pulled a drum down from a tree, and in doing so driven the birds away that were its actual prey. The fox has just discovered that the drum cannot be eaten, even though it is big and noisy.

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