Q 1.How did the tiger king acquire his name?

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 30 tigers.

Question 2.
What happened to the tiger provided by the Dewan Saheb?
Answer:
The tiger provided by the Dewan Saheb was old and agile. It was passive and
exhausted. The Tiger King did not take careful aim at the hundredth tiger. The tiger
fainted due to the sound of the bullet and fell in a crumpled heap. No one wanted the
Maharaja to know this. It was a hunter who actually shot the tiger later.

Question 3.
What did the British officer’s secretary tell the j Maharaja? Why did the Maharaja refuse
• permission?
Answer:
When the British officer was denied permission for hunting a tiger his secretary sent a
message to the Maharaja that the Maharaja himself could kill the tiger and then allow
his officer to get photographed holding the gun over the dead tiger. But the Maharaja
did not agree to his request because he felt doing so would mean other officers would
come with similar demands.

Question 4.
Why, do you think, was the Maharaja in danger of losing his throne?
Answer:
A high ranking British officer wished to go tiger hunting but he was declined permission
by the Maharaja. The officer then requested to be photographed with a tiger killed by
the Maharaja. The Maharaja rejected that request also. Having turned down a senior
British officer’s request twice could have put the Maharaja in danger of losing his throne.

Question 5.
What led the Maharaja to start out on a tiger hunt?
Answer:
The chief astrologer had predicted that a tiger would be the cause of the Maharaja’s
death and he should be particularly wary of the hundredth tiger. So the Maharaja
banned the hunting of tigers in his State and those who violated this law had to hand
over their wealth and property to the kingdom, while the Maharaja himself started out on
a tiger hunt.

Question 6.
How did the hundredth tiger take its revenge on the king?
Answer:
The Maharaja of Pratibandapuram, who was also known as the Tiger King tried to go
against
what was destined in his fate. The result was tragic and ironical. The chief astrologer
had predicted that a tiger would be the cause of the king’s death and he should
specially be wary of the hundredth tiger. The vain king banned hunting of the tigers in
the State by everyone except himself and was able to kill ninety-nine tigers. He thought
he had killed the hundredth tiger also but somehow the bullet missed its mark and the
hundredth tiger survived. Then on his son’s birthday the king bought him a wooden tiger
which he felt was a perfect gift for his son. A splinter in it pierced the king’s hand and
the infection spread all over his arm causing his death. It was indeed ironical that
despite killing all the tigers in his kingdom the king did finally become the victim of the
hundredth tiger and the astrologer’s prediction did come true.

Q 7. Why did the Maharaja ban tiger hunting in the state?

Answer:
The Maharaja banned tiger hunting in the state by anyone else except himself because
he had to kill a hundred tigers so that he could prove the astrologer’s prediction wrong.
He had a limited population of tigers in his kingdom so he did not want anyone else to
hunt or kill tigers.
Q 8. Why did the Maharaja order the Dewan to double the land tax?
Answer:
Despite being in the forest for many days the i Maharaja was unable to find the
hundredth tiger so his fury and obstinacy mounted alarmingly. Due to his frustration and
rage many officers lost their jobs and when his anger | reached its height he ordered the
Dewan to double the land tax.
Q 9.Who killed the 100th tiger? Why?
Answer:
Ironically, the hundredth tiger is not killed by the Tiger King. He does drop down after he
is shot by the Maharaja, but he only faints from the bullet shot. The hunters then wonder
what they should do. They realize if the Maharaja came to know this they could lose
their jobs. So one of the hunters takes aim and shoots the tiger.
Q 10. How did the dewan and his wife help in getting the hundredth tiger for the king?
Answer:
An old tiger had been bought by the Dewan from the People’s Park in Madras. He had
hidden it in his backyard. At midnight, the Dewan and his wife dragged the tiger into the
car and then hauled him out of the car, near the Maharaja’s camp. It wandered into the
Maharaja’s presence and was shot at.

Long Questions
Q 1. Why was the king worried after having killed ninety-nine tigers? How did his
worries come to an end?
Answer:
At the birth of the King, an astrologer had predicted that a tiger would be responsible for
his death. At the age of twenty, the state astrologer had told him to be wary of the
hundredth tiger. The Tiger King had killed ninety nine tigers and now he just needed to
kill one tiger to reach his tally of killing a hundred tigers. Then he would have no fears
left. So he is feverishly anxious to kill the hundredth tiger at the earliest. But the tiger
farms ran dry in his father-in law’s kingdom also. Out of frustration, the King terminates
the services of many officers and thinks of punishing the villagers by doubling the land
tax. He also orders his Dewan either to resign or find a tiger. The Dewan gets worried
and upset and recalls the old tiger that has been brought from Madras and kept hidden
in his house. He drags the old and weak tiger and drives him to the forest where the
King is hunting. The initially hesitant tiger then wanders into the Maharaja’s presence
and is finally shot by the King.
Q 2. The astrologer’s prediction about the death of the Tiger King came to be true. Do
you agree with this statement? Explain why or why not.
Answer:
The chief-astrologer had forewarned the king that a tiger would be responsible for his
death and he should be particularly beware of the hundredth tiger. After killing the
hundredth tiger the king was relaxed and became careless. He did not know that rthe
hundredth tiger had actually survived because the bullet had missed its mark. Finally it
was a tiger who was responsible for the king’s death though it was a toy-tiger which he
had bought as a birthday gift for his son. The carved toy tiger had a rough surface with
sharp wooden splinters. One of these sharp splinters pierced the king’s right hand and
caused a deadly infection that spread all over his arm. Three surgeons tried their level
best but they could not save the king and so the astrologer’s prediction did indeed come
true. Despite the fact that the king took every measure to avoid the circumstance of his
death the hundredth tiger took its final revenge upon the king as predicted by the
astrologer.