Sugriva

In the Ramayana, the earlier of the
two great Indian epics, a monkey king
and an ally of the god Rama in his
struggle to regain his kidnapped wife
Sita. Sugriva and his brother Bali
jointly rule the kingdom of Kishkindha but become enemies because
of a misunderstanding. On one occasion the two are fighting a magician
who has taken refuge in a cave. Bali
goes in, after instructing Sugriva on
certain signs that will indicate which
of them has been killed. Sugriva waits
outside the cave for a year, and then
sees the sign indicating his brother’s
death, which the cunning magician
has engineered during his own death.
Thinking that his brother is dead,
Sugriva rolls a stone over the mouth of
the cave to trap the magician, and
returns home. Bali eventually manages
to get out of the cave and, thinking that
his brother has used this opportunity
to get rid of him, forces Sugriva into
exile and keeps Sugriva’s wife as his
own. Sugriva lives in exile until he
makes an alliance with Rama, who kills
Bali by shooting him while Bali fights
with Sugriva. After regaining his kingdom, Sugriva is a faithful ally to Rama,
and with his monkey armies aids in the
conquest of Lanka.