In Rudyard Kipling’s “The King’s Ankus,” Mowgli discovers a jeweled ankus beneath the palace ruins. An ankus is an elephant goad, traditionally a pointed tool used by elephant handlers, and the one in the story is richly decorated and valuable.
The object is found in the ruined city associated with the Bandar-log stories. Mowgli initially treats it as a fascinating possession, but the ankus brings violence and death because people become obsessed with its jewels and monetary value.
The story follows “Kaa’s Hunting” in Kipling’s collection and continues the exploration of the abandoned human city. The ankus is not merely treasure: it drives the plot and demonstrates how greed can make people dangerous to one another.
A common mix-up is to call the object a weapon or a crown. Its distinctive identity is an elephant goad, and the story’s title refers specifically to this object. Kipling uses it to connect human craftsmanship with destructive human desire.