THE TIGER KING

Chapter-2
Vistas
About the Author

Ramaswamy Krishnamurthy (9 September 1899 – 5 December 1954), better known by his pen name Kalki, was an
Indian writer, journalist, poet, critic and Indian independence activist. He was named after "Kalki", the tenth and last avatar
of the Hindu God Vishnu. His writings include over 120 short stories, 10 novellas, 5 novels, 3 historical romances, editorial
and political writings and hundreds of film and music reviews.

Early life

Krishnamurthy's father was Ramaswamy Aiyar, an accountant in Puttamangalam village in the old Tanjore district of
erstwhile Madras Presidency. He began his primary education in his village school and later attended Municipal High
School in Mayavaram but quit in 1921, just short of completion of his Senior School Leaving Certificate, in response to
Mahatma Gandhi's 1921 call for non-co-operation joining the Indian National Congress instead.

Honours

The release of a postage stamp in honour of Kalki was among the highlights of the centenary celebrations.
Government of Tamil Nadu announced the nationalisation of Kalki's works, this will enable publishers to come out with
reprints of his works.Kalki Krishnamuthy received the Sangeetha Kalasikhamani award conferred on him by The Indian
Fine Arts Society in 1953.

Death

Kalki died in Chennai on 5 December 1954 aged 55 years from tuberculosis. Kalki magazine's special issue dated 5
December 1954 (The day he died) for Annai Sarada Devi was his last editorial work. That magazine shared the information
that his health was improving prior to his demise.

GIST OF THE CHAPTER

The Maharaja Sir Jilani Jung Jung Bhadur was called “Tiger King”.
When he was just 10 days old he asked intelligent questions to the astrologers and was told that he would be killed by a
tiger. He uttered “Let tigers beware!”
No other miracle took place, the child grew like any other Royal child drinking white cow’s milk, taught by an English
tutor, looked after by an English nanny and watched English films.
When he was 20, he was crowned as king. It was then the prediction of his death by the tiger reached the Maharaja’s ear and
he in turn to safe guard himself killed a tiger and being thrilled he told the astrologer who replied that he can kill 99 tigers
but should be careful with the 100th.
From then on he started killing tiger and none was allowed to hunt tigers. A high-ranking British officer visited the state that
was fond of hunting tiger and his wish was declined.
The officer requested for getting a photograph with a tiger killed by Maharaja and this request was rejected.
So to please the officer’s wife he sent 50 diamond rings expecting that she would take 1 or 2 instead she kept all the rings
costing 3 lakh rupees and sent ‘thanks’ to the Maharaja. But his state was secured.
In 10 years he killed 70 tiger and didn’t find any in Pratibandapuram so he decided to marry a girl from royal state which
had more tigers to complete his target.
Whenever he visited his in-laws he killed 5-6 tigers. So he killed 99 tigers and was feverishly anxious to kill the 100th but
couldn’t find.
News about the presence of a tiger near a village proved disappointing.
Now the Dewan was warned of his danger so he visited ‘People’s Park in Madras’ and brought an old tiger and placed it in
the forest and informed the Maharaja.
The Maharaja took great care and shot the tiger and left the place with great triumph.
The bullet did not hit the tiger but out of fear the tiger had collapsed. Now the staff killed the tiger and brought it in grand
procession.
It was the 3rd birthday of the Maharaja’s son and he wanted to buy a present from the toyshop. He bought a wooden tiger
which was poorly carved.
While the Maharaja was playing with the prince a tiny sliver of the wooden tiger pierced his right hand which later on
caused his death. Thus the hundredth tiger takes his final revenge upon the “Tiger King”.

Short Summary including the main phase of the Chapter

This story is about ‘the Tiger King’, the Maharaja of Pratibandapuram, who was known for his “indomitable courage”.
A prophesy and “a great miracle”
The crown prince of the kingdom of Pratibandapuram was rumored to have miraculously spoken his first words when he
was just ten days old. His words proved his intelligence, inquisitiveness and bravery to the astrologers.
The astrologers’ prophesized that though the young prince will grow up to be the mightiest of kings, a tiger will cause his
death.
The education and coronation of Jung Jung Bahadur
British dominance and its effect on the royalty of India had a huge impact on the kind of education given to princes across
the country. Even the prince of Pratibandapuram “drank the milk of an English cow, was brought up by an English nanny,
tutored in English by an Englishman, saw nothing but English films.” He was crowned king at the age of twenty.
The killing of the first tiger and acceptance of the challenge
The prince grew up to become arrogant but brave Maharaja of Pratibandapuram. As the stories of his foretold but long
forgotten end resurfaced, he searched and killed his first tiger to show his superiority and rebellion against fate.
Considering this to be his victory over his destined future, he called upon the state astrologer. The latter informed him that
he had no life threat from the first ninety-nine of his hunted tigers but it was the hundredth one that he needed to protect
himself from. Nevertheless, the Maharaja decided to kill at least hundred tigers as a challenge against this foretold destiny.
Maharaja’s obsession with tigers
The Maharaja’s sole aim of life became the hunt of tigers. This obsession led him to restrict to himself the right to kill all the
tigers in the tiger-rich forests of Pratibandapuram. He even issued a proclamation that anybody who dared even to think evil
of any of the tigers in the state would be liable to confiscation of wealth and property. To achieve the aim of killing hundred
tigers, he neglected all his duties as a king.
A gift of fifty rings to duraisani
In keeping with this vow, the Maharaja out rightly denied even a British official, “durai,” who desired to hunt down a tiger.
The durai’s sole aim was to get his photograph clicked with a tiger's corpse and a gun over his shoulders. However, fearing
the British wrath and to safeguard his kingdom, he readily sent fifty diamond rings to the British official's wife. But since
she kept all the fifty rings instead of one as intended, he had to bear an expense of three lakh rupees.
Tigers extinct in Pratibandapuram
Ten years saw the corpses of seventy tigers in the forests of Pratibandapuram. Gradually, the forests became bereft of tigers.
The maharaja decided to get married
So, he married a princess of the state that had the maximum number of tigers. Through this alliance, he acquired access to
his father-in-law’s forests. Soon his score of tiger killing rose to ninety-nine but stagnated thereafter, as the tigers became
extinct there too.
The search for the hundredth tiger & Maharaja’s fury
Though all the forests were searched exhaustively, the hundredth tiger could not be found. This wait made the maharaja
gloomy, haughty and impatient. Soon a village reported frequent incidences of sheep disappearance. It was supposed that a
wild tiger was the reason. The Maharaja was delighted with the news and exempted the village from all taxes for three
years.
Soon an expedition was set out to kill this tiger. However, the tiger could not be found. In his rage, Maharaja fired many of
his officials from their jobs and doubled the land tax of the villagers. When the dewan tried to reason it out with the
Maharaja, he was asked to resign.
Dewan’s plan - the hundredth tiger!
Scared of losing his job, the dewan devised a plan. He got a tiger brought from Madras and, secretly yet intelligently, left it
in the forest where the Maharaja’s expedition was going on.
On spotting this tiger, the Maharaja shot directly at the pale and fragile tiger, which “fell in a crumpled heap.”
Maharaja’s misconception
Maharaja, elated with his victory, left for his state. However, as the hunters took a closer look at the tiger, they found that
the tiger had collapsed merely at the sound of the bullet. Distressed with the thought of losing their jobs, the hunters killed
the tiger themselves and, as ordered by the Maharaja, took the dead tiger in a grand procession through the town and buried
it. A tomb was also erected over it.
The tiger’s revenge
Maharaja quit hunting forever after this hundredth 'kill'. A few days later, he decided for a grand celebration of his son's
third birthday. As a gift, he decided to buy a toy tiger for his son which, unknown to him, was of poor craftsmanship.
While playing with his son one day, a tiny sliver of the rough wooden surface pierced his right hand and died of infection.
Thus, the hundredth tiger claimed Maharaja's life.

QUESTION AND ANSWER

Read and find out

Who is the Tiger King? Why does he get that name?

Jilani Jung Jung Bahadur, the king of Pratibandapuraem, is known as the Tiger King. Ten days after his birth, a
renowned astrologer prophesised that his “death comes from the Tiger.” After he became the king of
Pratibandapuram and got to know of the prediction about his death, he went on a tiger killing spree. He killed
about seventy tigers within ten years. He was so caught up with reaching his target of killing one hundred
tigers, to disprove the prophecy, that all other matters took a back-seat. This was how he got to be known as the
Tiger King.

What did the royal infant grow up to be?

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 tigers of Pratibandapuram. He even married for the sake of this
ambition. He came to be known as the Tiger King.

What will the Maharaja do to find the required number of tigers to kill?

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 reach his
aim of killing one hundred tigers.

How will the Maharaja prepare himself for the hundredth tiger which was supposed to decide his fate?
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.

What will now happen to the astrologer? Do you think the prophecy was indisputably disproved?

The astrologer dies before the king of Pratibandapuram gets an opportunity to kill one hundred tigers.
Disproving his prophecy seems to be the sole reason for the king's existence. Except for killing hundred
tigers, everything else takes a back-seat for the king.

The prophecy cannot to be indisputably disproved as the king was ultimately killed by a tiger, though
neither by a real one nor by the hundredth one. Looking at the weak, old and almost lifeless tiger that was the
hundredth one, no one would have thought that it would escape the king’s bullet by fainting at the shock of
the bullet whizzing past. It was the “tiny little wooden tiger” from the toy shop that caused the death of
Tiger King.

Reading with Insight

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?

[‘Conceit’ means an extremely favourable and high opinion of one’s own abilities and worth, while
‘satire’ refers to the use of irony, humour, exaggeration or ridicule to expose and criticize
stupidity and vices of people in a particular context or situation.]

The story is a satire on the conceit of those in power. The king is known to be an extremely conceited
person right from the beginning. As a ten-day-old infant, he pronounced the words, “Let tigers beware!”
By challenging the astrologer’s prediction, he also challenges his death. Moreover, killing seventy tigers
within a period of ten years and bringing the entire species close to extinction, marrying for the convenience
of killing more tigers, exercising his authority to punish or tax people according to his whims and
fancies, flaunting his power and richness in sending about fifty rings to the British officer’s lady or
paying a bill of three lakh rupees, having a temper that would make other people lose their job or even life
etc., are all part of this conceit. He does nothing for the sake of his people in the capacity of a king. All this
has been highlighted in the story using humour, irony and exaggeration.

Death is an inevitable phenomenon associated to life itself. Challenging death on the basis of prediction by
astrologers is as good as a wasted effort. Even after the monumental task of killing ninety-nine tigers, the
hundredth tiger escaped being shot by the king’s gun. Unaware of this, he dies merely because of a “tiny
little wooden tiger” and not by any ferocious living creature like tiger. Thus, the dramatic irony surfaces
strongly at the end of the story when the readers realise what the king never does.

What is the author’s indirect comment on subjecting innocent animals to the willfulness of human
beings?
The author uses satire in his story to talk about the indiscriminate killing of tigers. The entire species of tigers
had become extinct at the state of Pratibandapuram and that of his wife’s native state by the time the king
himself dies. What is pointed in a subtle manner is that these killings are a result of mere whims and
fancies. They do not have any logical explanation at the face of the inevitable status of death. Moreover, the
silence on the death of tigers itself draws a strong co-relation between the life of the king and that of the
ninety-nine tigers killed by him.
Besides, no second thought was ever given while killing the tigers. There is also an implicit suggestion of
killings for preserving the vain glory of human in the British officer’s request for a photograph with a dead
 tiger. It is as if these animals’ existence is at stake for more than one reason and for no fault of their own.
The absurdity highlighted in the killings, by the author, also makes the readers wonder if these animals
deserve more security than human beings.

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?

Maharaja's minions were servile towards him primarily because of his fury and obstinacy which might
result in either losing their jobs for no apparent fault of theirs or facing unjustified punishments. No one
dared to take the risk of explaining the consequences of the killings to the king or give him any right
suggestion or advice. No one tried to argue any of his decision – be it annihilation of tigers or marrying for
the sake of availing further opportunity for tiger-hunt. No one questioned his neglect of duties towards his
people or state. They simply did not wish to interfere and were happy to comply lest they should face
the consequences. They merely had to submit to his whims and fancies as they existed purely for that
very reason. The simple reasoning was that if they cannot do an assigned job, they did not deserve to be in
the job. Even his dewan was asked to resign from his post when he tried to point out the impracticality of
doubling the taxes collected from people. All his subordinates lived in a piteous state of constant terror of
him so much so that the shopkeeper couldn't communicate the original price of an item, the hunters couldn't
inform him about the hundredth tiger being alive and even his dewan had to stealthily arrange for a tiger to
be brought from Chennai. Their sincerity to him, if any, was always shown overpowered by the fear of their
king.

Yes, there are lots of similarities between the Maharaja's story and the present political order. People are
discontented as those in power seem to be indifferent to their welfare and that of the state and ecology.
Selfish aims and concerns guide decisions, and mere whims and fancies can change the situation of law and
order. Those who try to bring some positive reform may also not be able to do so as they fear losing their jobs
or facing other dire consequences. Taxes taken from the public are also constantly misappropriated. Reforms
either do not materialise or do so with an extremely slow pace. Yet, the best part is that the real situation is
not as bleak as in the story.
There are people working for the benefit and welfare of their community and society, and positive changes do
happen.

Can you relate instances of game-hunting among the rich and the powerful in the present times that
illustrate the callousness of human beings towards wildlife?

There have been some instances of game hunting in the present times. Even the affluent have been involved
in instances that illustrate the callousness of human beings towards wildlife.

Salman Khan – Black Buck poaching case. Nawab Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi - Antelope case.

(Pointers have been provided for students' reference. It is strongly recommended that students prepare the
answer on their own.)

We need a new system for the age of ecology – a system which is embedded in the care of all people and
also in the care of the Earth and all life upon it. Discuss.
A new system, embedded in the care not only of all people but also of the Earth and life upon it, is
required to preserve and sustain Nature’s balance at both national and international levels. Formulating
rules for the preservation of endangered species or assigning funds for conservation of wild life or imposing
ban on hunting and poaching is not enough. People need to be made aware of the repercussions of exploiting
nature and its creatures through various awareness campaigns held at schools, colleges and important public
gatherings using the media of street-plays, television, films and documentaries etc. People must be made to
understand that every creature has a prominent role in the ecological cycle and no one has right to kill other
life forms or destroy their habitats.
Restoration of Nature’s balance as well as a proper system of sustainable development, therefore, has to be
followed without fail or intermittent lapses. All the reasons for ecological imbalance like deforestation,
rapid industrialization, soil erosion, etc. need to be addressed before global warming and other climatic hazard
or natural calamity takes its toll.
NOTE:
(The above answer is only a sample provided for students' reference. It is strongly recommended that
students prepare the answer on their own.)

HOPING ALL OF YOU ARE TAKING PROPER CARE OF YOUR HEALTH AND YOUR STUDIES
WHILE BEING AT HOME.
THANK YOU