The Tiger King – Questions/Answers

1. How did the tiger king acquire his name?

The Maharaja of Pratibandapuram was called the Tiger King. At the time of his 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’.

2. What happened to the tiger provided by the diwan saheb?

The tiger provided by the Dewan Saheb was very old and stood in complete submission.
The Maharaja look aim and fired but-actually the bullet missed the tiger and the tiger
only fainted from the sharp sound of the bullet. As nobody wanted the Maharaja to
know about it one oflhe hunters himself shot the tiger later on.

3. Why do you think was the maharaja in danger of losing his throne?
The Maharaja had annoyed a high-ranking British officer by refusing him permission to
hunt tigers in Pratibandapuram. The Maharaja did not relent even when the request
was toned down that the durai himself did not have to kill the tiger. The Maharaja could
do the actual killing. The durai wanted only a photograph of himself holding the gun and
standing over the tiger’s carcass. The Maharaja stood in danger of losing his throne
because he prevented a British officer from fulfilling his desire.

4. What led the maharaja to start out on a tiger hunt?

The Maharaja knew the old saying that killing even a cow in self-defence was no sin.
So in order to save his own life and prove the astrological prediction wrong he started
shooting all his enemies i.e. the tigers he found in the forests of his state and nearby
regions.

5. How did the hundredth tiger take its revenge on the tiger king?
The Tiger King could not kill the hundredth tiger. It had merely fainted from shock of the
sound of the bullet. It is the wooden tiger from the toyshop that becomes the cause of
Maharaja’s death. One of the slivers on its body pierces the Maharaja’s right hand.
Infection flares up and the prick develops into a suppurating sore. The Maharaja dies
during the operation.

6. When and why did maharaja decide to get married?

The Maharaja had killed seventy tigers and thus the tiger population became extinct in
the forests of his kingdom. It was then that he decided to get married to a girl in a royal
family of a state which had a large tiger population.

7. Why did the maharaja ban tiger hunting in the state?

The Maharaja wanted to prove that the prediction of the State astrologer was wrong.
Hence, he restricted the hunting of tigers in all the tiger-rich forests
of Pratibandapuram, so that he could hunt them down.

8. Why did maharaja order the diwan to double land tax?

The Maharaja went to hunt the hundredth tiger who was responsible for the
disappearances of the sheep. However, he could not find the tiger. So in a fit of rage,
the Maharaja ordered the Diwan to double the land tax.

9. Who killed the hundredth tiger and why?

The hundredth tiger was actually killed by one of the hunters who accompanied the
king. Actually the tiger had only fainted from the shock of the bullet fired by the Tiger
king. The hunters realised that and feared losing their jobs so they killed the tiger
themselves and didn't informed the king.

10. How did the ten day old baby react to the prediction about his future?
Upon hearing the prediction of the chief astrologer, the ten–day,–old Jilani Jung
Bahadur spoke very clearly and said that there was nothing new in that, all those who
were born, would have to die one day. They did not require the predictions of the
astrologers for that. He did not quake with fear. Rather, he asked the astrologer to tell
the manner of his death. When the astrologer told that he he would be killed by the
hundredth tiger, the baby growled and said ‘Let the tigers beware!’.