Shere Khan /ˈʃɪər ˈkɑːn/ (Hindi: शेर खान; Urdu: شیر خان‎ ) is a fictional character who appears in two of Rudyard Kipling's Jungle Book stories featuring Mowgliand their adaptations. According to The Kipling Society, the word Shere (or "shir") translates as "tiger" and Khan is a title of distinction, used together "to show that he is chief among tigers."[1] Other sources indicate Shere may mean "tiger" or "lion" in Persian, Urdu, and Punjabi, and that Khan translates as "king", or "leader", in a number of languages influenced by the Mongols, including Pashto and Urdu.[2][3][4] The name may have originated from the nickname of the Afghan warlord who once ruled in India, Sher Shah Suri.[5]