THE TIGER KING

1.What gave the astrologers the greatest surprise of their life while they were studying the horoscope of the
ten-day old prince?

Answer. When the astrologers were reading the horoscope of the little prince, they were taken by surprise when
the ten-day old infant asked about the manner of his death. When the chief astrologer told him that a tiger would
be the cause of his death, the baby retorted with arrogance, “Let the tigers beware!”

2.How did the Maharaja please a high ranking officer?

Answer. A high ranking British officer visited the state of Pratibandapuram and sought permission for tiger hunting
from the Maharaja. The Maharaja declined his request, but as he did not want to upset the officer, he sent fifty
diamond rings to the officer’s wife which cost the king three lakh rupees.

3.Why did the Maharaja ban tiger hunting in the state?

Answer. As the prince was crowned the king, the astrologer’s prediction regarding his (the king’s) death by a tiger
reached his ears. This prompted the Maharaja to kill a tiger but the astrologer informed him that he had to
successfully kill hundred tigers to escape the prophecy. Thus, in order to reach that mark, the Maharaja banned
tiger hunting in the state except for himself.

4. Why did the Maharaja decide to get married?

Answer. In order to defeat the astrologer’s prophecy, the Maharaja had to kill a hundred tigers. He had already
killed seventy tigers and the tiger population in his state neared extinction. For this reason, he wished to marry a
girl in the royal family of a state with a rich tiger population, where he would kill the rest of the tigers.

5. Why did the Maharaja double the land tax?

Answer. The Maharaja had successfully killed ninety-nine tigers but struggled hard to find the hundredth tiger.
Once, there came a news of a tiger being spotted at a hillside village but it turned out to be untrue. This infuriated
the Maharaja, who ordered the dewan to double the land tax in order to punish the villagers for the false news.

6. How did the Tiger King become the victim of the hundredth tiger?

Or How did the Tiger King meet his end? What is ironical about his fate?

Answer. The Tiger King met his end through the wooden tiger, which he had bought as a gift for his son on his
third birthday. While he was playing with his son, a splinter of the poorly made toy tiger pricked the king’s hand.
The infection turned into a sore, which spread all over his arm. In spite of the best surgeons, the king’s life could
not be saved. The irony is in the fact that in spite of killing nearly all the tigers in the area, he had to face his death
by a toy tiger.

7. What, sort of hunts did the Maharaja offer to organize for the high-ranking British officer? What trait of the
officer does it reveal?

Answer. Tiger hunting was banned in Pratibandapuram. When the British official came with a tiger hunt request,
the Maharaja told him that he may conduct a boar hunt, a mouse hunt, even a mosquito hunt, but not a tiger
hunt. In reply to this, the British officer said that he only wanted to be photographed holding a gun and standing
ewer the dead body; the tiger could be killed by the Maharaja. This shows the shallowness of character of the
officer.
8. Why was the Maharaja so anxious to kill the hundredth tiger?

Answer. When the Maharaja was barely ten days old, the chief astrologer had predicted that a tiger would be the
cause of his death. When the Maharaja was twenty, he killed one tiger. When he asked his astrologer, the
astrologer said that he would kill ninety-nine tigers, but he should be fearful of the hundredth tiger. That was the
reason why the Maharaja was so anxious to kill the hundredth tiger.

9. What warning did the astrologer give the Tiger King when he killed the first tiger? Did the prediction of the
astrologer come to be true?

Answer. When the Maharaja boasted about killing the first tiger, the astrologer said that he may kill ’ ninety-nine
tigers, but must be “very careful with the hundredth tiger.” Yes, the astrologer was absolutely true in this
prediction, because finally the Maharaja was killed by the hundredth tiger.

10.How did the Dewan manage to arrange the hundredth tiger for the Maharaja?

Answer. The Dewan had brought a tiger from the People’s Park in Madras and kept it hidden in his house. When
the Maharaja threatened him with dire consequences, he understood that the only way to save himself was to
‘plant’ a tiger for the kill. So, he and his aged wife dragged the tiger to the forest where the king was hunting. The
king took aim and the beast soon collapsed.

11.Why was the Maharaja sunk in gloom even after having killed seventy tigers?

Answer. During ten years, the Maharaja had managed to kill seventy tigers. As a result, the tiger population
became extinct in his kingdom. This made the Maharaja anxious because he thought he would not be able to
achieve his target of killing a hundred tigers and so his life would be in danger.

12.What led the Maharaja to start out on a tiger hunt? (All India 2010)

Answer. The Maharaja knew the old saying that killing even a cow in self-defense was no sin. So, in order to save
his own life and prove the astrological prediction wrong, he started shooting all his enemies, i.e. the tigers he
found in the forests of his state and nearby regions.

13.When did the Tiger King stand in danger of losing his kingdom? (Delhi 2010)

Answer. Once, a high-ranking British officer visited Pratibandapuram. He was very fond of hunting tigers and being
photographed with them. However, the Maharaja refused to give him permission to hunt tigers because he feared
that other British officers too would turn up with the same request. It was because of his refusal that the Maharaja
stood in danger of losing his kingdom.

14.What happened to the tiger provided by the Dewan Saheb? (Delhi 2009)

Answer. The tiger provided by the Dewan Saheb was very old and stood in complete submission. The Maharaja
look aim and fired, but-actually the bullet missed the tiger and the tiger only fainted from the sharp sound of the
bullet. As nobody wanted the Maharaja to know about it, one of the hunters himself shot the tiger later on.

15.Describe the efforts made by the Tiger King to achieve his target of killing a hundred tigers.

Answer. The Tiger King made numerous efforts to fulfill his target of killing a hundred tigers. He stayed in the
forest for many days. He fired many of his officers for not getting him tigers. He had to spend a ransom of three
lakh rupees to impress the British official and discourage him from killing the tigers. He even went to the extent of
marrying to kill the population of tigers in the neighboring state to meet his target. In a way, he did all he could to
achieve his goal , of killing a hundred tigers.
16.Did the Tiger King shoot the hundredth tiger? Give reasons for your answer.

Answer. The Tiger King actually did not shoot the hundredth tiger. The tiger being a weak one, fainted from the
shock of a bullet whizzing past him and the ignorant king celebrated his achievement. Later, when the hunters
took a closer look at the tiger, it woke up as if from a deep slumber.

17.How did the Tiger King celebrate his victory over the killing of the hundredth tiger?

Answer. When the Maharaja thought that he had killed the hundredth tiger, his joy knew no bounds. The elated
king returned to his capital and ordered his staff to bring the dead tiger in a grand procession. The tiger was buried
and a tomb was erected over it.

18.What was the Dewan’s tiger like? How did he take it into the forest? (Delhi 2008)

Answer. The Dewan’s tiger was old and had been brought from the People’s Park in Madras. It was kept hidden in
the Dewan’s house. At midnight, the Dewan with his wife dragged the tiger to his car and thrust it onto the seat.
With great difficulty, the tiger was pushed out of the car and planted in the forest to be shot by the Maharaja.

19.Why did the Dewan decide to give up his own tiger to be killed by the Maharaja?

Answer. The Maharaja refused to leave the forest unless he killed the hundredth tiger that had been sighted by
the villagers. The Maharaja was furious and sacked many officers. He ordered the Dewan to double the land tax of
the village and when the Dewan tried to stop him, the Maharaja asked him to resign. So, to save his job, the
Dewan decided to arrange for a tiger to be killed by the Maharaja.