THE TIGER KING

(Kalki)

1. Who wrote ‘The Tiger King’? What kind of story is it?

Ans: ‘The Tiger King’ is written by Ramaswamy Krishnamurthy, better known by
Kalki.
It is a story of heroism where we find Jilani Jung Jung Bahadur set an
example of tiger killing by killing at least ninety nine tigers. It is a story of dramatic
irony.

2. How did the Tiger King acquire his name?

Ans: The Maharaja of Pratibandapuram was known as the Tiger King. He got the
name of Tiger King as tigers dominated his life and his mission to live. He killed
seventy tigers in ten years and also married a girl from a State which had a large
number of tigers in order to kill the next thirty tigers.

3. Why did the Maharaja decide to get married?

Ans: The Maharaja had killed seventy tigers and thus the tiger population became
extinct in the forests of his kingdom. It was then that he decided to get married to a
girl in a royal family of a state which had a large tiger population.

4. Who is the Tiger King? Why does he get that name?

Ans: Jilani Jung Jung Bahadur, the king of Pratibandapuram, is known as the
Tiger King.

At the time of his birth the astrologers declared the the prince would have to
die one day. The ten-day-old prince asked the astrologers to reveal the manner of
his death. The wise men were baffled at this miracle. The chief astrologer said that
his death would come from the tiger. The young prince growled and uttered
terrifying words: ‘Let tigers beware!’ He decided to kill one hundred tigers. He thus
got the name ‘Tiger King’.

5. What did the royal infant grow up to be?

Ans: The royal infant grew up to be the king of Pratibandapuram who was
obsessed with the idea of killing one hundred tigers. He wanted to do so to disprove
the prophecy which said that his death would come from the hundredth tiger. This
made him kill all tigers of Pratibandapuram. He even married for the sake of this
ambition. He came to be known as the Tiger King.

6. What will the Maharaja do to find the required number of tigers to kill?
Ans: To get the required number of tigers to kill, the Maharaja asked his Dewan
to find a suitable girl for him to marry. A suitable girl for matrimonial alliance
would be one who would not only come from a royal family but also belong to a
State with a large tiger population. As Pratibandapuram had no more tigers left, a
province that belonged to his father-in-law would certainly provide him with an
opportunity to kill more tigers and reach his aim of killing one hundred tigers.

 7. How will the Maharaja prepare himself for the hundredth tiger which was
supposed to decide his fate?
Ans: The Maharaja wanted to be extremely careful while dealing with the
hundredth tiger which was supposed to be the reason for his death. On
encountering the hundredth one, he took a careful aim at the tiger and shot it.
When it fell in a crumpled heap, he was overcome with joy and left the place
hastily.

8. What will now happen to the astrologer? Do you think the prophecy was
indisputably disproved?
Ans: The astrologer dies before the king of Pratibandapuram gets an opportunity
to kill one hundred tigers. Disproving his prophecy seems to be that sole reason for
the king’s existence. Except for killing hundred tigers, everything else takes a back-
seat for the king. The prophecy cannot to be indisputably disproved as the king
was ultimately killed by a tiger, though neither by a real one nor by the hundredth
one. Looking at the weak, old and almost lifeless tiger that was the hundredth one,
no one would have thought that it would escape the king’s bullet by fainting at the
shock of the bullet whizzing past. It was the “tiny little wooden tiger" from the toy
shop that caused the death of Tiger King.

9. The story is a satire on the conceit of those in power. How does the author
employ the literary device of dramatic irony in the story?
Ans: The story “The Tiger King” is a supreme example of dramatic irony. The
character acts in a way grossly inappropriate to the actual circumstances or
expects the opposite of what fate holds in store for him’. Kalki has used a very
dexterous use of dramatic irony in the story.

After killing the first tiger the King flaunts its dead body before the astrologer
to show that he is more powerful than the tiger. However, the astrologer warns the
king that he should be “careful with the hundredth tiger”. The king chooses to
prove the astrologer wrong once again and makes frantic efforts to kill hundred
tigers. Thus, having shot at the old tiger, the Tiger King believes he has killed the
hundredth tiger. But the reader as well as the king’s officers and minions soon
come to know that the emaciated tiger does not get killed but only faints. The king
gets happy of killing the tiger but in actual ignorant of this ironical fate the
prediction proves to be right and mere silver on wooden tiger’s body causes his
dramatic death. Quite ironically the hundredth tiger kills the king instead and
astrologer’s predictions strands vindicated.

10.What is the author’s indirect comment on subjecting innocent animals to the

wilfulness of human beings?
Ans: Through this satirical story, the author has rightly portrayed how human
beings have subjected innocent animals to untold torture and health, merely to
fulfil their own whims and fancies. The maharaja’s indiscriminate killing of tigers
led to their extinction in some states, but the maharaja was oblivious to the grave

 consequences his action was leading to. In order to prove an astrologer wrong the
maharaja went on a killing spree proving his dominance over the hapless animals.

11.How would you describe the behaviour of the Maharaja’s minions towards him?
Do you find them truly sincere towards him or are they driven by fear when
they obey him? Do we find a similarity in today’s political order?
Ans: Maharaja’s minions were subservient and sycophantic. Most of them were
scared of Maharaja and tried to keep him in good humour by obeying his orders.
They did not dare to disobey him as his displeasure could mean loss of their job or
even loss of their lives.

The astrologer was afraid of predicting his death, till Maharaja told him to
“speak without fear”. Dewan who should have advised the king not to kill the tigers
did not dare to go against his wishes and aided his marriage to a princess whose
father’s kingdom possessed large number of tigers. Being afraid of losing his job, he
presented an old tiger to satisfy the whims of his Maharaja. Likewise, the hunters
chose not to inform him of the survival of the 100th tiger and instead killed it
themselves fearing that they might lose their jobs. Even the shopkeeper, who sold
the king a cheap wooden toy tiger, quoted a higher price lest he should be punished
under the rules of emergency. So, it is evident that the king’s minions were driven
by fear rather than any feelings of sincerity towards their ruler.

Today’s political order is no different. We know too well that many of the
people in power are not there because of their ability but because of their influence
and power.
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