Miskin (attributed to), The crow addresses the animals, a mounted miniature in gouache on paper

A throng of creatures from the earth, sea and air gathers around a rocky outcrop to listen to the wise crow, perched on the peak. Among them are dragons, cheetahs, crocodiles, vultures, frogs, scorpions and a simurgh (a mythical bird). This may be an episode from the popular fable of the crows and the owls, whose enmity begins when a crow speaks out against the election of an owl as the leader of the animals. Animal fables, in which animals enact stories with moral endings, were a traditional and entertaining way to teach young princes the elements of wise statecraft and the pitfalls of human nature. The Mughal emperor Akbar (reigned 1556-1605) was particularly fond of the genre, and ordered an illustrated copy of one such collection called Anvar-i Suhayli ('Lights of Canopus'). He later commissioned a simpler version of the same stories for his young sons, `Iyar-i Danesh ('Pearls of Wisdom').