Bandar-log (Hindi: बन्दर-लोग), a term used in Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book to describe monkeys - specifically, Langur monkeys.
In Hindi, Bandar means 'monkey' and log means 'people'. The Bandar-log feature most prominently in the story "Kaa's Hunting", where their scatterbrained anarchy causes them to be treated as pariahs by the rest of the jungle.[1] Their foolish and chattering ways are illustrated by their slogan: We are great. We are free. We are wonderful. We are the most wonderful people in all the jungle! We all say so, and so it must be true. Bandar-log communicate almost entirely through the repetition of other animals' speech.[2]
The Road-Song of the Bandar-log is a companion poem to 'Kaa's Hunting', and demonstrates Kipling's strong adherence to poetic form.[2]
The Bandar-log appear in Disney's The Jungle Book. It is stated repeatedly in the Kipling story that the Bandar-log "have no king;" however, the Disney film version gave them one: King Louie. He is an orangutan, a species nonexistent in India. The Bandar-log capture Mowgli and take him to Louie. They participate in the "I Wan'na Be Like You", during which Baloo and Bagheera attempt to free Mowgli from Louie.
They reappear in The Jungle Book 2, this time without their leader Louie. They are just seen dancing with Baloo and other animals.
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