Sometimes called Khuddaka Gantha. The fifth and last division of the Sutta Pitaka.
It consists of fifteen independent treatises, some belonging to the earlier period, while others may be ascribed to the later stratum of the Páli Canon. This Nikáya is composed for the most part in verse, and contains all the most important collections of Páli poetry.
The fifteen books are:
Niddesas (Mahá- and Culla-)
Cariyápitaka (Sp.i.18; DA.i.17).
According to another classification the whole of the Vinaya Pitaka and the Abhidhamma Pitaka and all the teachings of the Buddha, not included in the remaining four Nikáyas, are regarded as forming the Khuddaka Nikáya (DA.i.23; Sp.i.27).
The Díghabhánakas refused to accept the authenticity of the Khuddaka-Pátha, Cariyápitaka, and the Apadána, and included the other books as part of the Abhidhamma Pitaka.
The Majjhimabhánakas did not accept the Khuddaka-Pátha but acknowledged the rest, and included them in the Sutta Pitaka (DA.i.15).
According to Burmese tradition four other later books are added to this list: Milindapańha, Suttasangaha, Petakopadesa, and Nettippakarana. Bode, op. cit., 4.