The Tiger Kin9

Notes

Maharaja Sir Jilatti Ju11g Jmt9 Shadm-, knOWtt as the T19er ICittg," was 91W" this title for
a ffaSOtl . .At just 10 days old, he astonished astrologms b)' askittf bdelligmt questions, attd
they foretold that ht would t,, killed b)' a tiger.

The baby Maharaja boldly ,roclaimed, 'l.d tifms kwatt\"As he grew up, ht was raised
like alt)' other ro,al clrild-n11rt11red on wltih cows milk, educated b)' att E119lish tutor,
cared for b)' att Ettglish namty, attd mtfl'taitted with E119lish films .

.At the 39e of 20, lte was crowned king. lkarittg tlw prediction of his death by a tifer, he
derided to protect himself by ln11i119 tifms. .After kil11119 his first tifer, he consulted the
astrol09er, who wamed him tltat he could kill 99 tifen, but he must b, cautious with the
10oth.Ddffllritted, the Maharaja embarked Ott a missi0tt to kill tifen, forbiddi119 att)'Otte
else ft-om huutittg flwm.

.A lri9h-raukittf British offi(er, who dmred to mmt tifen, "1Sihd his state, but the
Maharaja refused his request. To ~ the officff's wife, kt smt SO diaffl0ttd riup,
hopittg she would take a few, but she kq,t all of them, which cost thttt lakh ffll'US.
~ , this 9nture secttffif his state's safd)'.

Over tm yean, he ln1led 70 tigms, but whffl ttoue were lril iu l'rah1'audapuram, 1w
manied a priucess from a ro,al state with more tifen to med his target Each visit to his
in-laws resulted in the deatll of 5-6 tt,ms..After kiUitt9 99 tigms, he became ~ to kill
the tooth. Despite hnrin9 uews of a t'19er uear a villa9e, he was disappointed.

The Onvatt, awatt of the kitt9's 11r9mc,, In-ought att old tiger from "l',ople's l'ark itt
Madras' and placed it hi the forest.

the Makaraja shot the tiger, kliewtg he had succeeded, but the build missed, ad the
lifer collapsed out of fear. The staff then killed the tiger attd presmted it iu a grand
,rocessi0tt.Ott his sou's third birlhday, the Maharaja bought a poorly carved woodm tiger
ft-om a toy shop.

While playi119 with it, a tiny sliver from the toy pitffed his right hattd, leadi119 to att
i11ferli0tt that ultimately caused his death. Thus, the hundredth tiger took its fi11al revm9e
on the T19er 1Citt9-"
 T6e Dger «lag
QIJESTIONS
Qulstion.1.What gave t1u astrologm the greatest surprlJe of their life wkiu they wm
studying the horoscope of the tm-day old prince? (
Jmmltr. When the astrologm wm reading the horoscope of the little prina, they were t:ak,n by
surprise when the ten-day old infant ask,d about the manntr of his death. When the chief astrologer
told him that a tiger would be the cause of his tUath, the baby morttd fl1ith a ~ *Let the tigm
beflJare

Qtustion.2 Why did the !Jlaharaja ban tiger hunting in the state? (Delhi )
~er. h the prince fllas crorun,d the king, the astrologer's pndiction. regarding his (the king's)
death by a tiger nached his tars. '1his prompted the ,Lahanya to kill a tiger but the astrologer
inforrrud him that he had to successfully kill hundred tigm to escape the prophecy. -zhus, in order to
nach that mark, the 1l~a bannd tiger hunting in the state ~ept for himm

3 Describe the Tiger 1(jng as a completely self-centred person.

:Jle was only obsessed about his oam safety. :Jle sacrificed et1erything for killing tigers. ,le did not gi'IJe tun, to
his son, fllije and people until ht Juul ljlud all the hundnd tigers. He ignored his SOTlp fllije, and people of his
kingdom for his oam wsttd intmsts.

4 1loa1 did the 1ltJNln9a please a high ranking officer? (Compartment)

~er. JI high ranking 2mtish efficer visited the state of 'PratO,andapuram and sought permission for
tiger hunting from the ""'1raraja. 11at !Jlaharcya declined his request, but as ht did not fllant to upset
the officer, ht sent fifty diamond rings to the efficer's 1llifa which cost the king thru, lak]r. rupees.

By Slmran Sahni
!J{OfJJ did the !Jefllan manage to arrange the hundredth tiger for the 9'aharaja?

hmler. 'Jiu ~efllan had brought a tiger from the feople's farlt in Madras and lcept it h.iddtn in kis
house. When the ~Tr9a threateMl him flfith dire consequences, kt undmtood th.at the only fllay
to SMJe himself 'Illas to 'plant' a tiger for the kiIL So, he and his aged a,ife dragged the tiger to the
forest fllhm the king was hunting. 'Jiu king took aim and the beast soon collapsed.

'Why was the 1lalraraja so ~ to kill the hundredth tiger? O

~er. 'When the Mahara.ja was barebj ten days old, tht chief astrologer had predicted th.at a tiger
would be the cause uf kis death. When the ~ a 'll1as tvJenty, kt k/lltd one tiger. 'When he ask,d
his astrologer, the astrologer said th.at kt would kill nin.ety-nw tigers, but ht should be fearful, uf the
hunbedth tiger. 1laat fllas t1u reason why the ,Lahamja 'llJas so a ~ to Jcjll the ku,-ndrtdth tiger

H"'1J did the Tiger Xjng meet his end ? What is ironical about kis death ?
!Jl"'1J did tht wooden tiger gifud by the ?lahan#a to his son prooe to
be fatal for himself ?

'Jiu Ttgtr XJng ma his end through the 'll1oodtn. tiger, which he had bous}lt as a gift for his son on his third
birthday. while he fl1as playing fllith his son, a splinter uf the pOOTUJ 1NUU toy tiger priclced the ldng's hand.
tJ1u infection turned into a sari, which spread all MJer his arm. In spite uf the but su11eons, the king's life
could not be Stl'Qea.
tJ1u irony is in the fact that in spite uf killing MZfflj all the tigers in the area, he had to face his death by a
toy tiger.
When Maharaja Jilani Jung Jung Bahadur was born, astrologers
predicted that one day the king would die. The ten-day-old Jilani Jung
Jung Bahadur started speaking and informed them that everyone born
must die someday. He asked the astrologers to specify how he would die.
Everyone was stunned by the infant's speech. The chief astrologer
revealed that he was born under the hour of the bull, and since the bull
and tiger were enemies, his death would come from a tiger. The infant
arrogantly declared, "Let tigers beware!"

As the Maharaja grew older, he became a tiger hunter. He was overjoyed

when he killed his first tiger. When he informed the chief astrologer, he
was warned that while he might kill 99 tigers, he must be careful with
the hundredth one. Over the next ten years, he killed 70 tigers. He then
banned tiger hunting in Pratibandhpuram, leading to the extinction of
tigers there. On the advice of his dewan, he married a princess from a
state with a large tiger population and hunted tigers during visits to his
father-in-law. He managed to kill 99 tigers but still needed one more.
With no tigers in sight, he raised land taxes and dismissed some of his
men out of frustration.

Finally, the dewan arranged for a tiger from the People's Park in Madras.
It was dragged to a forest where the Maharaja would find it. The
Maharaja, accompanied by his men, shot the tiger, which fell dead. The
Maharaja, in his excitement, didn't realize the weak tiger had only
fainted from the shock of the bullet. His men, fearing for their jobs,
killed the tiger to ensure it was dead. The Maharaja was unaware that he
still had one more tiger to kill.

On his three-year-old son's birthday, the Maharaja gifted him a wooden

tiger. Made by an unskilled craftsman, its rough surface caused a wood
splinter to pierce the Maharaja's hand. The next day, the infection
spread, and despite an operation by three surgeons, they failed to save
his life. Thus, the fateful hundredth tiger, though a wooden one, caused
the Maharaja's death, proving the astrologer's prediction correct.