There are various different possible answers to the question "Which was the first novel ever written?" Any of the writings on this list might be the first novel, or possibly just examples of precursors of the novel form. Some of the candidates for the first novel are:

• Xenophon, The Education of Cyrus (Greek, 4th century BC). A fictional account of the education of King Cyrus the Great of Persia.
• The Adventures of the Ten Princes by Dandin (Indian Sanskrit in the 6th or 7th century).
• Banabhatta , Kadambari (Sanskrit, 7th century).
• Anon, The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter (Japanese, 10th century).
• Luo Guanzhong, Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Chinese, 14th century).
• Anon, Lazarillo de Tormes (Spanish, 1554).
• Mateo Alemán, Guzmán de Alfarache (Spanish, 1599).
• Don Quixote de la Mancha (1605) generally considered to be the origin of the modern European novel.