THE TIGER KING

1. What is the author’s indirect comment on subjecting innocent animals to the willfulness of
human beings?
Ans. Through this satirical story, the author has rightly portrayed how human beings have subjected innocent
animals to untold torture and death, merely to fulfill their own whims and fancies. The maharaja’s
indiscriminate killing of tigers led to their extinction in some states, but the maharaja was oblivious to the
grave consequences his action was leading to. In order to prove an astrologer wrong the maharaja went on a
killing tigers proving his dominance over the hapless animals.

Q3. 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. Maharaja’s minions were obedient and sycophantic. Most of them were scared of Maharaja and tried to
keep him in good humour by obeying his orders. They did not dare to disobey him as his displeasure could
mean loss of their job or even loss of their lives.
The astrologer was afraid of predicting his death , till Maharaja told him to “ speak without fear”. Dewan who
should have advised the king not to kill the tigers did not dare to go against his wishes and aided his marriage
to a princess whose father’s kingdom possessed a large number of tigers. Being afraid of losing his job, he
presented an old tiger to satisfy the whims of his Maharaja. Likewise , the hunters chose not to inform him of
the survival of the 100th tiger and instead killed it themselves fearing that they might lose their jobs. Even the
shopkeeper, who sold the king a cheap wooden toy tiger, quoted a higher price lest he should be punished
under the rules of emergency. So,it is evident that the king’s minions were driven by fear rather than any
feelings of sincerity towards their ruler.

Today’s political order is no different--- we know too well that many of the people in power are not there
because of their ability but because of their influence and power. Moreover, others pander to them for their
own vested interests rather than for the good of the country.

ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS

Q1 Why do you think, the author goes into detailed identification of the Tiger King through a variety of
titles ? Does he really mean to humour him ?
Answer : Kalki, the author of the story , has no intention of praising the king. In fact, immediately after
addressing him with a variety of titles, he brings an anticlimax by telling his readers that his name is shortened
to “ Tiger King “ .

Q2 How did the tiger king acquire his name? [imp]

Ans. The Tiger King was Maharaja of Pratibandapuram. He came to be known as tiger king as at his birth it
was predicted by the royal astrologer that he would be killed by a tiger .And to disprove this prediction he
started killing the tigers indiscriminately and killed 99 tigers.. Moreover , he was ferocious like a tiger.

Q3. What was the miracle that took place in the royal palace?[imp]
Ans. When the Maharaja was a ten day old infant, he spoke and asked intelligent questions about his death.
After knowing that he would be killed by a tiger he uttered saying “Let tigers beware.”

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Q4. What predictions did the astrologers make at the birth of the tiger king?[imp]
Ans: The astrologers predicted that the newly born prince will grow up to become the hero of heroes, brave of
the bravest and a great warrior. He also predicted that the baby was born in the hour of the bull. The bull and
tiger were enemies. Therefore, he would die because of the tiger

Q5. What did the State astrologer say he would do ‘if the hundredth tiger were also killed’?[imp]
Ans. The State astrologer was so sure of his prediction that he announced that he would cut off his ceremonial
tuft, crop his hair short and become an insurance agent in case the king was able to kill the 100th tiger, too. He
was sure that the Maharaja’s death would be caused by the 100th tiger.

Q6.. What did the high-ranking British officer wish to do? Was his wish fulfilled?[imp]
Ans. The high-ranking British officer wanted to kill a tiger. When he was denied the permission for hunting, he
sent a word to the king that he would be happy if he was allowed to get photographed with the dead body of a
tiger killed by the king. However, his wish remained unfulfilled.

Q7. What did the British officer’s secretary tell the Maharaja? Why did the Maharaja refuse
permission? OR How did the Maharaja manage to save his throne? [very imp]
Ans. The Maharaja had annoyed the visiting senior British officer over the issue of tiger-hunting and ‘stood in
danger of losing his kingdom itself’. So, the Maharaja and the Dewan decided to placate and pacify the officer
through bribe by sending gifts of expensive diamond rings to the ‘duraisani”, the wife of the British officer.
Thus he managed to save his throne.

Q8 How did the ‘duraisani’ behave on receiving the gifts?

Ans. Some fifty samples of expensive diamond rings were sent to the duraisani and it was expected that she
would select one or two and return the rest. But the lady proved to be greedy as she retained all of them and
merely sent a letter of thanks.

Q9. What unforeseen hurdle brought the tiger hunt to a standstill?

Ans. Within ten years Maharaja’s tiger hunting had resulted in the killing of seventy tigers. However his tiger
killing mission came to a sudden standstill because the tiger population became extinct in the forest of
Pratibandapuram.

Q10 Why did the Maharaja suddenly decide to marry? Whom did he wish to marry?
Ans. The Maharaja suddenly decided to marry because firstly, he was of marriageable age and secondly, he
wanted to kill thirty more tigers in his father-in-law’s state in order to complete the tally of hundred tigers .For
this reason he wished to marry a girl in the royal family of a state with a large tiger population.

Q11 Why did Maharaja order the dewan to double the tax?
Ans. The Maharaja called the dewan and ordered him to immediately double the tax of the villagers who had
informed him of a tiger in the forest because despite his best efforts he was unable to locate the beast. This
infuriated the Maharaja.

Q12.Why did the Dewan decide to give up his own tiger to be killed by the Maharaja?
Answer : The dewan had hidden in his house an old tiger which had been brought from the People’s Park in
Madras . He feared that if the Maharaja did not get a tiger to hunt, the result would be catastrophic and he
would lose his job.

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Q13. What was Dewan’s tiger like? How did he take it into the forest?
It was very weak and senile. Dewan arranged the tiger from The People’s Park. At midnight , he dragged the
tiger and shoved him into the car, went to the forest, hauled the beast out of the car, and pushed him to the
ground near Maharaja’s camp

Q14. How the 100th tiger was finally found & killed?[imp]
Ans. The Dewan took the 100th tiger which he had brought from people’s park in Madras. The tiger wondered
into Maharaja’s presence. The king shot it but it was not killed; the hunters killed to escape from king’s anger.

Q15. Why was the Maharaja overcome with elation when he thought he had killed the hundredth tiger?
The Maharaja was overcome with elation on having killed the hundredth tiger because his vow had been
fulfilled. By killing the hundredth tiger, he thought the prophecy about his death had been disproved. On his
command , the dead body of the hundredth tiger was taken in grand a procession through the town and buried .
A tomb was erected over it.

16. What did the Maharaja buy as a birthday gift for his son?[imp]
Ans. The Maharaja wished to give his son a very special gift on his birthday and he bought a wooden toy tiger
as a perfect birthday gift for his son.

17. Why does the author say the hundredth tiger took its final revenge? [very imp]
The king decided that a wooden tiger was a perfect gift for his son’s birthday. One day , he was playing with
that wooden tiger. One of the slivers pierced the Maharaja’s right hand. Infection spread all over the arm.
Three surgeons performed an operation but could not save the king. Thus the hundredth tiger took its final
revenge.

LONG ANSWER QUESTIONS

1. How did the Tiger King meet his end? What is ironical about his death?[very imp]
The wooden toy tiger the king had got as a birthday present for his son had been carved by an unskilled
carpenter. It had a rough surface with tiny slivers of wood standing up like quills all over it. One of those
slivers pierced the Maharaja’s right hand and although the king pulled it, his arm got infected. In four days, it
developed into a suppurating sore and spread all over the arm. The king died while being operated upon.
The king’s death is ironical but not surprising for the reader who is, in fact, looking forward to it. Having
‘killed’ the 100th tiger, the king is jubilant for he has fulfilled his vow and disproved the prediction of the royal
astrologer. He is now at ease for he thinks he cannot die of a tiger’s attack. No wonder, he orders the ‘dead’
tiger to be taken in a procession through the town and gets a tomb erected over it. All this while he does not
know that the 100th victim was not killed by him but by other hunters. That is indeed quite ironical. Death is
lurking around him and the king is unaware of it. Again, it is ironical that a king who has killed 99 tigers and is
bold and fearless dies of a mere ‘sliver’ on the body of a wooden tiger. Thus, ironically death does come to
him from a tiger.

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Q2 “The operation is successful. The maharaja is dead.” comment on the irony of the situation.[imp]
The whole incident is a satire on the life of rich and people in power. Everything in their life should be grand be
it a disease, purchases or treatment.. So when the Maharaja got hurt by a wooden splinter, specialist from
Madras were called. The three famous surgeons were called from Madras to treat the Maharaja. The surgeons
discussed and debated for some time and decided to operate. At the end of the operation they said he operation
was successful but theMaharaja was dead. As if the procedure was important to them but life had no meaning
for them. The job of doctors is to save people and not highlight the technicalities of the treatment.
But here it was just that, poor Maharaja was relegated to a nonentity whose life was not of much consequences
to them.

Q3 . Discuss the title of the story ‘The Tiger King’.[imp]

Ans. The Tiger King is an appropriate title for the story for several reasons. First of all, the king is very
involved with tiger hunting so much so that he marries a princess whose father’s kingdom has a sizable
population. He kills hundred tigers just to fulfill his vows. Secondly, the king with all his frenzy, anger and
ruthlessness is as ferocious as a tiger. Thirdly, he dies of a silver prick received from a wooden tiger toy.
Finally the prediction that a tiger would cause the king’s death also comes true. Since the story revolves round
the king and the hundred tigers he kills, the title could not be more apt

Q4. ‘The Tiger King’ can be seen as Kalki’s comment on the British influence on the feudal lords and the
reason for their alienation from their own culture and people. Discuss.
Ans. The Tiger King comes across as a person who was given to understand that everything belonging to the
English was worth emulating and everything Indian was useless. So much so that the milk given to the young
prince was from an English cow. He was brought up by an English nanny, tutored in English by an Englishman
and if he ever saw movies they were English films. This lifestyle was not peculiar to the king’s family alone
but it was the case of most of the feudal lords all over India. This resulted in the lopsided development of these
rulers and was the main cause of their alienation from their culture, environmental needs of their kingdom. In
their attempts to please the Britishers they had different set of norms for their own subjects. Hence, where
compassion was required they showed ruthlessness and brutality.

Q5. Bring out satire in the chapter. [very imp]

The tiger king is a satire on the arrogance of those in power. The writer employs great irony as well as humor in
the story. The writer has succeeded in capturing the attitude of then and now political system. The writer
lampoons the king and the coteries who surround him. Most importantly, the story conveys the message of
conserving wildlife and arouses a renewed interest in us regarding the preservation of ecology. 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.

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6. 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. [very imp]
The tiger king is a satire on the arrogance of those in power. The writer employs great irony as well as humor in
the story. The Maharajah believed what was written in his fate. The astrologers predicted that the newly born
prince will grow up to become the hero of heroes, brave of the bravest and a great warrior. He also predicted
that the baby was born in the hour of the bull. The bull and tiger were enemies. Therefore, he would die
because of the tiger. For this, the proud king banned tiger hunting in the state except him. If anybody dares
hunt or to throw a stone at a tiger, his wealth and property would be confiscated. The king appeared well set to
realize his ambition. Somehow he was able to kill ninety nine tigers. He needed just one tiger to complete his
tally. The author employs literary device of dramatic irony in the story. The irony is that the king thinks
himself safe after killing the hundredth tiger. Hardly does he know that the hundredth tiger did not die of his
bullet but survived. Ironically, the tiger that caused the death of the Tiger King was not a tiger of flesh and
blood. It was a wooden toy tiger.

7. How did the tiger king celebrate his victory over the killing of the 100th tiger? [imp]
The Maharajah thought that he had killed the hundredth tiger. He was elated. He did not know that his bullet
had missed the target. The hundredth tiger survived. But the hunters decided Maharajah must not know it. One
of them aimed and shot the tiger. Later the tiger was brought to the capital in grand procession through the
town. It was buried and a tomb was erected over it.

8. How did the hundredth tiger take its revenge upon the Tiger King?[vimp]
The king decided to give a wooden toy tiger to his son for his birthday. One day he was playing with the
wooden tiger. One of the slivers pierced the Maharaja’s right hand. Infection spread all over the arm. Three
surgeons performed an operation but could not save the king. Thus the hundredth tiger take its revenge upon
the Tiger King.

9. Draw a character sketch of the Tiger King.

The Maharaja in The Tiger King is portrayed as an autocrat who is eccentric. His callousness comes
through his indiscriminate killing of tigers and destroying of natural habitat, just to prove a
prophecy wrong. He was tutored by an English educator, drank the milk of an English cow and saw
only movies in English. His irrational behaviour is reflected when he vows to attend to matters of
the state only after killing a hundred tigers or when he marries into a family that has an estate with
the largest tiger population. He even doubled the tax on the people. However, we find no evidence
of his being merciful in the story. If not for the prophecy, the Maharaja might not have been so
ruthless about tigers, because in the story we see that he stops killing tigers only when he thinks that
the hundredth tiger has been killed. It is ironical that the King met with his death by a wooden
tiger and the hundredth tiger took revenge upon him.

10. "your ancestors were married to the sword , if you lke marry the gun" what does the dewan
mean by this?
When the Maharaja decided that it was time for him to get married, he called for the dewan hoping to discuss
with him the possible prospects. But the dewan seeing the Maharaja brandishing his gun became fearful of
his intentions and started misinterpreting his words. One of those misinterpretations is when he thinks that
the Maharaja wants to marry a tiger. In that context he tries to plead with the latter asking him not to marry
a tiger. The dewan fearfully suggests to the Maharaja the practice that the latter’s ancestors had of marrying
a gun, which is acceptable rather than marrying a dangerous animal like a tiger.

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