'bandarlog' originates from Hindi, specifically the words 'bandar' and 'log', where 'bandar' meant 'monkey' and 'log' meant 'people'.

'bandar-log' was popularized in English by Rudyard Kipling in The Jungle Book (1894) to name a tribe of monkeys; it entered English usage with that sense and later was used figuratively for a noisy or disorderly crowd.

Initially, it meant 'monkey-people' (a literal compound), but over time it evolved to mean 'a noisy, disorderly group; rabble'.