Chapter 2: The Tiger King

Ans: The Tiger King is Sir Jilani Jung Jung Bahadur, the Maharaja of Pratibandapuram. He gets this name because at his birth, astrologers predicted that his death would come from a tiger. When he grew up, he took a vow to kill one hundred tigers to disprove this prophecy and ensure his safety.

Ans: The royal infant grew up to be a tall and strong man. Like other Indian princes of the British era, he was brought up by an English nanny, tutored in English by an Englishman, and saw nothing but English films. At the age of twenty, he took over the reins of his state and immediately embarked on his tiger-hunting mission.

Ans: After killing seventy tigers in his own kingdom, the tiger population became extinct. To find more, the Maharaja decided to marry a girl from a royal family of a state with a large tiger population. This allowed him to hunt tigers in his father-in-law's kingdom whenever he visited, eventually reaching the tally of ninety-nine.

Ans: The Maharaja became extremely anxious and careful. He increased the land tax of a village where a tiger was spotted to celebrate, but when the tiger couldn't be found, he threatened to double the tax. He ordered his Dewan to find a tiger immediately or face dismissal. He refused to return from the forest until the beast was found and killed.

Ans: Nothing will happen to the astrologer because he had already died before the Maharaja reached the hundredth tiger. The prophecy was not disproved; in fact, it came true in an ironic way. The Maharaja thought he killed the hundredth tiger, but he missed his shot. His death was indeed caused by a "tiger"—a wooden toy tiger, whose sliver pierced his hand and caused a fatal infection.

Ans: The author uses dramatic irony throughout. The King thinks he is all-powerful and can cheat death by killing flesh-and-blood tigers. He spends his life hunting. However, the reader eventually learns that the hundredth tiger (the live one) survived his bullet. The ultimate irony is that a lifeless, crudely made wooden tiger becomes the cause of his death, proving that destiny cannot be cheated by power.

Ans: When the astrologers predicted the child's death, the ten-day-old baby spoke clearly, asking "O wise prophets!" He asked them to tell him the manner of his death, stating that "death is inevitable for all who are born." The astrologers were stunned to hear an infant speak so wisely.

Ans: The Maharaja banned tiger hunting for everyone except himself to ensure that there were enough tigers left for him to kill to reach the target of one hundred. A proclamation was issued that if anyone even threw a stone at a tiger, all their wealth and property would be confiscated.

Ans: A high-ranking British officer wanted to hunt a tiger in Pratibandapuram, but the King refused. To appease the angry officer and save his kingdom, the Maharaja sent fifty expensive diamond rings to the officer's wife, expecting her to keep one or two. However, she kept them all. It cost the King three lakh rupees, but he retained his kingdom.

Ans: The chief astrologer vowed that if the King successfully killed the hundredth tiger, he would cut off his tuft, crop his hair short, and become an insurance agent. He would also burn all his books on astrology.

Ans: The hundredth tiger was not found in the forest. The Dewan, fearing for his job, brought an old tiger from the People's Park in Madras and kept it hidden in his house. At night, he and his wife dragged the old, weak tiger to the car and drove it to the forest where the Maharaja was hunting.

Ans: The hunters realized that the King's bullet had missed and the tiger had merely fainted from the shock of the sound. They didn't tell the King because they feared they would lose their jobs if he found out he had failed. One of the hunters killed the tiger himself.

Ans: The King wanted a special gift. After searching the shops, he spotted a wooden tiger in a toyshop and decided it was the perfect gift. It cost only two annas and a quarter, but the shopkeeper sold it to the King for three hundred rupees.

Ans: The wooden tiger had been carved by an unskilled carpenter and had tiny slivers of wood sticking out like quills. One of these slivers pierced the Maharaja's right hand while playing with his son. It developed into a suppurating sore, spread infection through his arm, and eventually caused his death during surgery.

Ans: The ending is highly ironic and justified in the context of a satire. The King, who killed 99 majestic beasts to avoid death, is killed by a cheap, inanimate wooden toy. It highlights the futility of fighting destiny and the cruelty of the King. Nature essentially took revenge on the King for his cruelty to animals.

Ans: Usually, if an operation is successful, the patient survives. Here, the surgeons announce the King is dead but the operation is "successful." The irony is that the prophecy has been successfully fulfilled—the hundredth tiger (wooden) did cause the King's death. Thus, the surgeons might be referring to the success of fate rather than medical science.

Ans: The Dewan realized the King's madness would consume the state if the 100th tiger wasn't found. He cleverly managed the situation by bringing an old tiger from Madras and planting it in the forest, satisfying the King's ego and saving his own job.

Ans: Kalki mocks the colonial influence on Indian royalty. The Tiger King drank the milk of an English cow, was brought up by an English nanny, tutored in English by an Englishman, and saw only English films. It shows how disconnected they were from their own culture, acting more like British subjects than Indian kings.

Ans: The wooden tiger was extremely cheap (two annas), but the shopkeeper knew that if he quoted such a low price to the Maharaja, he would be punished under the rules of emergency. To avoid trouble and flatter the King, he claimed it was a rare example of craftsmanship and charged 300 rupees.

Ans: Through the story, the author silently condemns the killing of animals for sport or superstition. The extinction of tigers in Pratibandapuram and the neighboring state highlights the ecological damage caused by humans. The King's death by a "tiger" serves as a poetic justice, suggesting that humans cannot destroy nature without facing consequences.