The Tiger King

Summary

The Maharaja Sir Jilani Jung Jung Bhadur was called “Tiger King”. When he
was just 10 day 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. He was taught by an English tutor and looked after by an
English nanny. He 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. He pledged that all other affairs of the state would
be attended after killing the hundred tigers. Then he started killing tigers.
None except Maharaja was allowed to hunt tigers. A high-ranking British
officer visited the state that was fond of hunting tigers 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 one or two, 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. He asked his Dewan to find the tiger otherwise face his anger.
Now the Dewan was afraid of losing his job so he visited ‘People’s Park in

1|Page
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 third 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”.

The Tiger King Important Questions CBSE

Class 12 English
Short Answer Type Questions (3 Marks, 30-40 words)

Question.1.What gave the astrologers the greatest surprise of their life while they
were studying
the horoscope of the ten-day old prince? (Foreign 2014)
Answer. When the astrologers were reading the horoscope of the little prince, they
were taken by surprise when the ten-day old infant asked about the manner of his
death. When the chief astrologer told him that a tiger would be the cause of his death,
the baby retorted with arrogance, “Let the tigers beware!”

Question.2.How did the Maharaja please a high ranking officer? (Compartment

2014)
Answer. A high ranking British officer visited the state of Pratibandapuram and sought
permission for tiger hunting from the Maharaja. The Maharaja declined his request, but
as he did not want to upset the officer, he sent fifty diamond rings to the officer’s wife
which cost the king three , lakh rupees.

Question.3.Why did the Maharaja ban tiger hunting in the state? (Delhi 2014)
Answer. As the prince was crowned the king, the astrologer’s prediction regarding his
(the king’s) death by a tiger reached his ears. This prompted the Maharaja to kill a tiger
but the astrologer informed him that he had to successfully kill hundred tigers to escape
the prophecy. Thus, in order to reach that mark, the Maharaja banned tiger hunting in
the state except for himself.

Question.4. Why did the Maharaja decide to get married? (Compartment 2014)
or
2|Page
What is the reason lor the Tiger King’s sudden decision to marry? (Compartment
2014)
Answer. In order to defeat the astrologer’s prophecy, the Maharaja had to kill a hundred
tigers. He had already killed seventy tigers and the tiger population in his state neared
extinction. For this reason, he wished to marry a girl in the royal family of a state with a
rich tiger population, where he would kill the rest of the tigers.

Question.5. Why did the Maharaja double the land tax? (All India 2014)
Answer. The Maharaja had successfully killed ninety-nine tigers but struggled hard to
find the hundredth tiger. Once, there came a news of a tiger being spotted at a hillside
village but it turned out to be untrue. This infuriated the Maharaja, who ordered the
dewan to double the land tax in order to punish the villagers for the false news.

Question.6. How did the Tiger King become the victim of the hundredth tiger?
(Foreign 2014)
or
How did the Tiger King meet his end? What is ironical about his fate? (All India
2009)
Answer. The Tiger King met his end through the wooden tiger, which he had bought as
a gift for his son on his third birthday. While he was playing with his son, a splinter of the
poorly made toy tiger pricked the king’s hand. The infection turned into a sore, which
spread all over his arm. In spite of the best surgeons, the king’s life could not be saved.
The irony is in the fact that in spite of killing nearly all the tigers in the area, he had to
face his death by a toy tiger.

Question.7. What, sort of hunts did the Maharaja offer to organise for the high-
ranking British
officer? What trait of the officer does it reveal? (All India 2013)
Answer. Tiger hunting was banned in Pratibandapuram. When the British official came
with a tiger hunt request, the Maharaja told him that he may conduct a boar hunt, a
mouse hunt, even a mosquito hunt, but not a tiger hunt. In reply to this, the British
officer said that he only wanted to be photographed holding a gun and standing ewer
the dead body; the tiger could be killed by the Maharaja. This shows the shallowness of
character of the officer.

Question.8. Why was the Maharaja so anxious to kill the hundredth tiger? (AR
India 2012)
Answer. When the Maharaja was barely ten days old, the chief astrologer had
predicted that a tiger would be the cause of his death. When the Maharaja was twenty,
he killed one tiger. When he asked his astrologer, the astrologer said that he would kill
ninety-nine tigers, but he should be fearful of the hundredth tiger. That was the reason
why the Maharaja was so anxious to kill the hundredth tiger.

3|Page
Question.9. What warning did the astrologer give the Tiger King when he killed
the first tiger?
Did the prediction of the astrologer come to be true? (Foreign 2011)
Answer. When the Maharaja boasted about killing the first tiger, the astrologer said that
he may kill ’ ninety-nine tigers, but must be “very careful with the hundredth tiger.” Yes,
the astrologer was absolutely true in this prediction, because finally the Maharaja was
killed by the hundredth tiger.

Question.10.How did the Dewan manage to arrange the hundredth tiger for the
Maharaja?
(Foreign 2011)
Answer. The Dewan had brought a tiger from the People’s Park in Madras and kept it
hidden in his house. When the Maharaja threatened him with dire consequences, he
understood that the only way to save himself was to ‘plant’ a tiger for the kill. So, he and
his aged wife dragged the tiger to the forest where the king was hunting. The king took
aim and the beast soon collapsed.

Question.11.Why was the Maharaja sunk in gloom even after having killed
seventy tigers?
(Foreign 2011)
Answer. During ten years, the Maharaja had managed to kill seventy tigers. As a result,
the tiger population became extinct in his kingdom. This made the Maharaja anxious
because he thought he would not be able to achieve his target of killing a hundred tigers
and so his life would be in dangSr.

Question.12.What led the Maharaja to start out on a tiger hunt? (All India 2010)
Answer. 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.

Question.13.When did the Tiger King stand in danger of losing his kingdom?
(Delhi 2010)
Answer. Once, a high-ranking British officer visited Pratibandapuram. He was very fond
of hunting tigers and being photographed with them. However, the Maharaja refused to
give him permission to hunt tigers because he feared that other British officers too
would turn up with the same request. It was because of his refusal that the Maharaja
stood in danger of losing his kingdom.

Question.14.What happened to the tiger provided by the Dewan Saheb? (Delhi

2009)
Answer. 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

4|Page
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.

Question.15.Describe the efforts made by the Tiger King to achieve his target of
killing a hundred
tigers. (All India 2009)
Answer. The Tiger King made numerous efforts to fulfil his target of killing a hundred
tigers. He stayed in the forest for many days. He fired many of his officers for not getting
him tigers. He had to spend a ransom of three lakh rupees to impress the British official
and discourage him from killing the tigers. He even went to the extent of marrying to kill
the population of tigers in the neighbouring state to meet his target. In a way, he did all
he could to achieve his goal , of killing a hundred tigers.

Question.16.Did the Tiger King shoot the hundredth tiger? Give reasons for your
answer.
(Foreign 2009)
Answer. The Tiger King actually did not shoot the hundredth tiger. The tiger being a
weak one, fainted from the shock of a bullet whizzing past him and the ignorant king
celebrated his achievement. Later, when the hunters took a closer look at the tiger, it
woke up as if from a deep slumber.

Question.17.How did the Tiger King celebrate his victory over the killing of the
hundredth tiger?
(Delhi2008)
Answer. When the Maharaja thought that he had killed the hundredth tiger, his joy
knew no bounds. The elated king returned to his capital and ordered his staff to bring
the dead tiger in a grand
procession. The tiger was buried and a tomb was erected over it.

Question.18.What was the Dewan’s tiger like? How did he take it into the forest?
(Delhi 2008)
Answer. The Dewan’s tiger was old and had been brought from the People’s Park in
Madras. It was kept hidden in the Dewan’s house. At midnight, the Dewan with his wife
dragged the tiger to his car and thrust it onto the seat. With great difficulty, the tiger was
pushed out of the car and planted in the forest to be shot by the Maharaja.

Question.19.Why did the Dewan decide to give up his own tiger to be killed by the
Maharaja?
(Delhi 2008)
Answer. The Maharaja refused to leave the forest unless he killed the hundredth tiger
that had been sighted by the villagers. The Maharaja was funous and sacked many
officers. He ordered the Dewan to double the land tax of the village and when the
Dewan tried to stop him, the Maharaja asked him to resign. So, to save his job, the
Dewan decided to arrange for a tiger to be killed by the Maharaja.

5|Page
 Long Answer Type Questions (6 Marks, 120-150 words)

Question.20.How did the Tiger King stand in danger of losing his kingdom? How
was he able to
avoid the danger? (Delhi 2012)
Answer. Once a high ranking British officer visited Pratibandapuram. As he was fond of
hunting tigers, he expressed his wish of tiger hunting to the king but the king refused
permission. Then the British officer (^quested that he only wanted to be photographed
holding gun and standing over the dead body of the tiger; the Maharaja could kill the
tiger. However, the Maharaja denied him this permission also, fearing that it would lead
to further similar requests from other officers.
As the Maharaja did not want to upset the British officer and risk losing his kingdom, he
sent a fifty diamond rings to the wife of the officer. The lady kept all the rings and sent
him a note of thanks. In this way, the king managed to save his kingdom.

Question.21.The astrologer’s prediction about the death of the Tiger King came to
be true. Do you
agree with this statement? (All India 2008)
Answer. I agree with the statement that the astrologer’s prediction about the death of
the Tiger King came to be true.
The astrologer had predicted that Tiger King would be killed by a tiger and he should be
wary of the hundredth tiger.
This statement of the astrologer forced the king to go on a killing spree. The hundredth
tiger was not killed by the king himself but by the hunters, who found out that the old
tiger had not died by the bullet of the king but only fainted by the bullet whizzing past
him. .
The hundredth tiger was a wooden toy tiger which the king had presented to his three-
year old son. It killed the king merely by a sliver of wood protruding form it that pierced
his right hand. The wound developed pus and it soon spread all over the arm. The best
surgeons failed to save the king and thus, the astrologer’s prediction about the death of
the Tiger King proved to be correct.

6|Page