Short-Answer Questions
Q.1. When did the Tiger King stand in danger of losing his kingdom? How was he
able to avert the danger?
[CBSE Delhi 2010, 2012]
Ans. Tiger King, to disprove the astrologer’s prediction started to hunt and kill tigers. He
also banned tiger hunting by anyone except the Maharaja. Anyone who disobeyed him
was punished and all his wealth and property was confiscated. A British high ranking
officer wished to hunt tigers. The Maharaja told that the officer could hunt any other
animal except the tiger. The British officer’s secretary wanted the Maharaja to allow the
British officer to take a photograph of himself holding a gun and standing over a tiger’s
carcass. The Maharaja refused permission because he did not want anybody to kill a
tiger. At this the Maharaja stood in danger of losing his kingdom. Hence, he offered a
bribe of 50 gold rings which were valued at three lakhs, to the wife of the British officer.
By this act the Maharaja was able to avert the danger.
Q.2. What did the British officer’s secretary tell the Maharaja? Why did the
Maharaja refuse permission?
[CBSE (AI) 2010]
Ans. The British officer’s secretary told the Maharaja to allow him to shoot the tigers in
his kingdom. But the Maharaja did not allow him because he thought that the number of
tigers would decrease and he would not be able to complete the desired number.
Q.3. Why, do you think, was the Maharaja in danger of losing his throne?
[CBSE (AI) 2010, CBSE (AI) 2015]
Ans. A high-ranking British official came to the state. He desired to hunt tigers. The
Maharaja did not give permission. The officer sent a word to get himself photographed
holding a gun beside a tiger’s dead body. However, the Maharaja refused even that. As
the Maharaja had prevented a British officer from fulfilling his desire, he was in danger
of losing his kingdom.
Q.4. What led the Maharaja to start out on a tiger hunt?
[CBSE (AI) 2010]
Ans. When the Maharaja of Pratibandapuram was born, an astrologer had predicted
that his death would be caused by a tiger. So the Maharaja started out on a tiger hunt.
Q.5. What was the astrologer’s reaction when the Maharaja told him that he had
killed his first tiger?
[CBSE (F) 2010]
Ans. On being told that the Maharaja had killed his first tiger, the astrologer announced
that he could kill ninety-nine tigers but he must be very careful with the hundredth tiger.
Q.6. How does the hundredth tiger take its final revenge upon the Tiger King?
[CBSE (F) 2010]
Ans. Few days after killing the hundredth tiger, the Maharaja gifted a wooden tiger to
his son on his third birthday. A tiny splinter on the surface of the wooden tiger pierced
the Maharaja’s right hand, leading to a sore followed by the Maharaja’s death. Hence,
the hundredth tiger took its final revenge upon the Tiger King.
Q.7. Why did the Maharaja decide to get married?
[CBSE (F) 2010]
Ans. As the Maharaja occupied the throne at the age of twenty, he went on a tiger
hunting campaign. He was excited to kill his first tiger, and within ten years he killed
seventy tigers. Soon tigers became extinct in his own state. So he got married in the
royal family of a state that had a large number of tigers.
Q.8. Why was the Maharaja so anxious to kill the hundredth tiger?
[CBSE (AI) 2012]
Ans. The Maharaja had killed 99 tigers. If he could kill just one more tiger, he would
have no fear left. Then he could give up tiger hunting altogether. Moreover, he had to be
extremely careful with the last tiger.
Q.9. What sort of hunts did the Maharaja offer to organise for the high-ranking
British officer? What trait of the officer does it reveal?
[CBSE Delhi 2013]
Ans. For the high ranking British officer, the maharaja was prepared to organise any
other hunt, a boar hunt, he could go on a mouse hunt, even a mosquito hunt. But a tiger
hunt was impossible. The officer was a big show-off. He actually did not wish to hunt or
kill the tiger himself, he just wanted to be photographed with a gun in his hand, standing
over a dead tiger.
Q.10. Why was it a celebration time for all the tigers inhabiting Pratibandapuram?
Ans. It was celebration time for all the tigers inhabiting Pratibandapuram because the
Maharaja banned tiger hunting in the state. Except the Maharaja, no one was allowed to
hunt tigers. It was proclaimed that if anyone was found hunting a tiger, all his property
and wealth would be seized.
Q.11. The manner of his (the Tiger King’s) death is a matter of extraordinary
interest. Comment.
[CBSE (AI) 2015]
Ans. The Maharaja had vowed to kill hundred tigers to ensure his longevity. As soon as
he was born, astrologers had foretold that one day the Tiger King would be killed by a
tiger. Even after the Maharaja killed hundred tigers, he was killed by a tiger. It is quite
ironical because eventually he was killed by a tiger, though a wooden one.
Q.12. Why did the Tiger King decide to get married?
[CBSE (AI) 2015]
Ans. As the Maharaja occupied the throne at the age of twenty, he went on a tiger
hunting campaign. He was excited to kill his first tiger, and within ten years, he killed
seventy tigers. Soon tigers became extinct in his own state. So he got married in the
royal family of a state that had a large number of tigers.
Q.13. How did the Tiger King’s Diwan prove to be resourceful?
[CBSE Sample Paper 2016]
Ans. After the Tiger King had killed 99 tigers, no more tigers are left. After some time
there were indications of the presence of a tiger in the forests of a village. The king goes
there but does not find the tiger. Then he asks the Chief Minister to find the tiger or he
would remove him from his job. The Diwan had hidden in his house an old tiger which
had been brought from the People’s Park in Madras. He takes that 100th tiger to the
forest to be killed by the king.
Q.14. How did the ten-day-old baby (the future Tiger King) react to the prediction
about his future made by the astrologers?
[CBSE Delhi 2016]
Ans. On hearing the prediction, the ten-day-old prince spoke in his squeaky voice that
‘everyone who is born has to die one day’. He was told that he would be killed by a
tiger. To this he responded, ‘Let tigers beware’.
Q.15. What kind of life was enjoyed by crown prince Jung Bahadur till he reached
the age of twenty?
[CBSE Delhi 2016]
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
the tigers of Pratibandapuram. He even married to realise this ambition. He came to be
known as the Tiger King.
