THE TIGER KING

Theme- Ecological imbalance due to wilfulness of human beings

Sub- theme – Abuse of power

Message- It conveys that getting too much obsessed in winning over something and
losing control over oneself leads only to self destruction. Another message that is
revealed through this lesson is that no one can change what’s written in destiny no
matter what they do.

Short Answer Type Questions

Q1. Who is the Tiger King? Why does he get the name?

Ans. Jilani Jung Jung Bahadur ,the King of Pratibandapuram, is known as the Tiger King.
At the time of birth, the astrologers declared that 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 a 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’.

Q2.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 disapprove 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 achieve this ambition. He
came to be known as the Tiger King.

Q3. What did 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
help him reach his aim of killing hundred tigers.

Q4. 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.
Q5. What will now happen to the astrologer? Do you think the prophecy was
indisputably disapproved?

Ans. The king has died and so does the astrologer who predicted the prophecy. So no
harm will come to anyone. However, the prophecy was not indisputably disproved as
the king met his death with the infection caused by the sliver of a wooden tiger and also
he was not able to actually kill a hundred tigers.

Answer the following questions:-

Q1. 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 is a supreme example of dramatic irony. The character acts in a way
closely 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 choose 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 emancipated tiger
does not get killed but only fainted. The king becomes happy of killing the tiger but in
actual ignorant of this ironical fate the prediction proves to be right and a mere sliver
from the wooden tiger’s body causes his dramatic death. Quite ironically, the hundredth
tiger kills the king instead and the astrologer’s predictions stand vindicated.

Q. 2. What is the authors indirect comment on subjective innocent animals to the

Ans. Through this satirical story, the author has rightly portrayed how human beings
have subjected innocent animals to untold torture and death, merely to fulfil their own
whims and fancies. The Maharaja’s indiscriminate killing of tigers lead to their extinction
in some states but the Maharaja was not realizing to the grave consequences, his action
was leading to. In order to prove the astrologer wrong, the Maharaja went on a killing
tigers, proving his dominance over the helpless animals.

Q.3. 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. The Maharaja belongs to the ruthless, atrocious, whimsical and conceited ruling
Indian class of the British regime. The Maharaja has many minions, most of them fear
him and obey his orders faithfully. They don't have the guts to disobey him as the
maharaja's displeasure will cost then their jobs or even lives too. There are many
instances in the story in which the minions obey the Maharaja’s orders in fear. One of
the example of such instance is that, when the Maharaja called his dewan and ordered
him to double the land tax. The dewan was completely aware of the situation of what
will happen to him if the king couldn't find the hundtedth tiger to kill. So, in order to save
his job and life too, he brings and old tiger for the Maharaja to hunt and fulfill his vow.
Although the administrative system have changed and legal systems are in place but
today's political order is no different. These days the ones in power are mostly those
who got it because of their influence and not because of the ability. The ones who are
the subordinate flatters them in order to save the jobs just like the Maharaja’s minions
of the story.

Home Work

Q1. What was the hidden agenda behind the Tiger King’s marriage with the princess in
the neighbouring state?

Q2. How did the ‘duraisani’ behave on receiving the gifts?

Q3. Do you agree with the Tiger King’s statement- You may kill even a cow in self
defence?