The Blue Jackal is a story known throughout the Indian sub-continent.

Earliest reference

The earliest reference to the Blue Jackal can be found in Panchatantra

Panchatantra

The Panchatantra is an ancient Indian inter-related collection of animal fables in verse and prose, in a frame story format. The original Sanskrit work, which some scholars believe was composed in the 3rd century BCE, is attributed to Vishnu Sharma...

, a collection of stories which depict animals in human situations (see anthropomorphism

Anthropomorphism

Anthropomorphism is any attribution of human characteristics to animals, non-living things, phenomena, material states, objects or abstract concepts, such as organizations, governments, spirits or deities. The term was coined in the mid 1700s...

, Talking animals in fiction

Talking animals in fiction

Talking creatures are a common theme in mythology and folk tales, as well as children's literature. Fictional talking creatures often are anthropomorphic, possessing human-like qualities but appearing as a creature...

). In each of the stories every animal has a "personality"

Personality psychology

Personality psychology is a branch of psychology that studies personality and individual differences. Its areas of focus include:* Constructing a coherent picture of the individual and his or her major psychological processes...

 and each story ends in a moral.

The story

The story of the Blue Jackal known through oral transmission

Oral tradition

Oral tradition and oral lore is cultural material and traditions transmitted orally from one generation to another. The messages or testimony are verbally transmitted in speech or song and may take the form, for example, of folktales, sayings, ballads, songs, or chants...

 doesn't vary much from one part of India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 to another. Although the creature is know variously as Chandru, Neelaakanth or Neela Gidhar (literally, Blue Jackal).

The most common version is told like this:

The Story of the Blue Jackal

One evening when it was dark, a hungry jackal Golden Jackal The golden jackal , also known as the common jackal, Asiatic jackal, thos or gold-wolf is a Canid of the genus Canis indigenous to north and northeastern Africa, southeastern and central Europe , Asia Minor, the Middle East and southeast Asia...  went in search of food in a large village close to his home in the jungle Jungle A Jungle is an area of land in the tropics overgrown with dense vegetation.The word jungle originates from the Sanskrit word jangala which referred to uncultivated land. Although the Sanskrit word refers to "dry land", it has been suggested that an Anglo-Indian interpretation led to its... . The local dog Dog The domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in... s didn't like Jackals and chased him away so that they could make their owners proud by killing a beastly jackal. The jackal ran as fast as he could, and not looking where he was going fell into a bucket of indigo dye Dye A dye is a colored substance that has an affinity to the substrate to which it is being applied. The dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution, and requires a mordant to improve the fastness of the dye on the fiber....  outside the home of the cloth dyer. The dogs ran further and the jackal climbed out of the bucket, wet but unharmed. The jackal continued into the jungle and saw the lion Asiatic Lion The Asiatic lion also known as the Indian lion, Persian lion and Eurasian Lion is a subspecies of lion. The only place in the wild where the lion is found is in the Gir Forest of Gujarat, India... , King of the Jungle. The Lion asked him who he was and the jackal seeing that he had now turned blue declared himself as Chandru - protector of all the animals in the jungle. Chandru told the lion that he would only continue to protect the jungle if all the animals would give him food and shelter. Soon Chandru was sought for advice from animals from other jungles and animals sat at his feet and brought him the best of food. But as happens every year in India India India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world... , the Monsoon Monsoon Monsoon is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation, but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with the asymmetric heating of land and sea... came, and slowly but surely, the blue dye had run off Chandru's coat and he was just a mangy jackal again. The animals realised this and chased the jackal far into the jungle, where he was never seen again.