The Tiger King
- Kalki
Theme / Central Idea of the Lesson. Analysis of The Tiger King
Theme
The story ‘The Tiger King’ is a satire on those in power. Most of the time the rulers are not
interested in serving the people or work for the welfare of the public; instead, they spend their
time in foolish pursuits. This is a story about the transience of life. The story is about crime and
punishment. Kalki has used humour, irony and conversational narrative style to bring out the
theme.
Justify the title of The Tiger King
Appropriateness of Title
“The Tiger King” is a very appropriate title for the story for several reasons. First of all, the king is
crazy about tiger hunting and he marries a princess whose father’s kingdom has a sizeable tiger
population. He kills one hundred tigers just to fulfil his vow. Secondly, the king with all his frenzy,
anger and ruthlessness is as ferocious as a tiger. Thirdly, he dies of a sliver prick received from a
wooden toy tiger. The prediction that a tiger would cause the king’s death also comes true. Since
the story revolves around the king and the hundred tigers that he kills, it could not be better titled
than “The Tiger King”.
Moral/ Message of the lesson – The Tiger King
Message
Through this satirical story, the author has rightly portrayed how human beings have subjected
innocent animals to untold torture and death, merely to fulfil their own whims and fancies. The
Maharaja’s indiscriminate killing of tigers led to their extinction in some states, but the Maharaja
was oblivious of the grave consequences his action was leading to. The author strikes home the
message that the ruler’s primary duty should be the welfare of the citizens.
CHAPTER NUTSHELL
Theme
1.Satire on the conceit of those in power.
2.A comment on politicians who put personal gratification, fulfilment of their own whims and
fancies above the good of the masses or even good governance.
3. Pride has a fall, self-destructive nature of man.
4.The need for conservation of wildlife.
Dramatic twist in the ending
1. The king pleased with himself at having proved all astrologers wrong by killing a hundred
tigers, gets a wooden tiger for his son’s birthday.
2. Silver pierces his right hand, gets infected, surgeons unable to save his life.
Character sketch of the tiger king
1. Self-centred (decides to deal with matters of the state only when the threat to his life is
removed and the 100 tigers are killed).
2.Egoistic (he thinks he can challenge fate, the astrologers and hunt down all the tigers, gloats
when he feels he’s succeeded by buying the wooden tiger as a present for his son; likes
flatterers, fires anyone who disobeys his orders.
3.Whimsical and irrational (three-year exemption from all taxes, doubles the land tax according to
his changing moods).
Irony In the lesson
The fact that one can’t defy destiny or fate, the tiger king spends his life in a single-minded
pursuit of tigers but finally killed, not by a live tiger but a wooden toy.
Short Answer Type Questions (30 to 40 words)
SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS (3 Marks Each)
Q 1. What happened when the chief astrologer said that the death would come from a
tiger?
Ans. As soon as the crown prince Jung Jung Bahadur heard the word ‘Tiger’, he did not get
thrown into a quake. He only gave a deep growl and terrifying words `Let Tigers Beware’,
emerged from his lips.
Q 2. What was the reply of the astrologer, when the Tiger King asked the astrologer what
he would do if the hundredth tiger were killed?
Ans. The astrologer replied that he would tear all his books on astrology, set fire to them and cut
off his tuft, crop his hair short and become an insurance agent.
Q 3. What did the Maharaja do to realize his ambition of killing a hundred tigers?
Ans. The State banned tiger hunting by anyone except the Maharaja. Anyone defying this order
would lose all his wealth and property. The Maharaja vowed he would attend to all other matters
only after killing a hundred tigers. He fired many of his officers for not getting him tigers. He even
stayed in the forest for many days. He had married a princess whose father’s kingdom had a
large tiger population. The Tiger King had to spend three lakh rupees to impress the British
official and discourage him from killing the tigers.
Q 4. Why did the Maharaja and dewan do to avoid the danger of losing the throne?
Ans. The Maharaja and dewan connived to get samples of expensive diamond rings of different
designs from a famous British Company of jewellers in Calcutta. About fifty rings arrived and
were sent to the British Officer’s wife as a gift. They expected her to choose one or two rings and
send the rest back. But she kept all the rings and sent back a thank you note. The Maharaja had
to pay a bill of three lakhs but was happy that he could save his throne.
Q 5. Why did the Maharaja decide to marry a girl of the royal family from a neighbouring
state?
Ans. The Maharaja decided to do this so that he could be allowed to hunt tigers from the state of
his father-in-law because in his own state he had killed all the tigers available. He wanted to
marry a girl from a state with a large tiger population.
Q 6. What did the dewan do on hearing the Maharaja’s threat?
Ans. The dewan and his wife took the tiger which had been brought from the People’s Park in
Madras and dragged it to the car and shoved it into the seat. They left the tiger with great
difficulty and ensured that it should wander into the Raja’s presence. Everything happened
according to their plan. The Maharaja took careful aim at the beast and killed it.
Q 7. What was special about the gift the Maharaja had given to the crown prince on his
third birthday?
Ans. The Maharaja had decided to give a special gift to the crown prince on his third birthday. He
searched for a suitable gift and finally spotted a wooden tiger in a toy shop and decided it was a
perfect gift. He paid three hundred rupees to the shopkeeper who convinced him that it was an
extremely rare example of craftsmanship. On the contrary, it was rough, carved by an unskilled
carpenter and had tiny slivers of wood all over it.
Q 8. How does the author satirize the upbringing and education of crown princes of Indian
States?
Ans. The author satirizes the attitude of Indian royalty during the pre-partition days. The kings
wanted to impress the British and believed that all things connected with the British were good.
The author ridicules the upbringing of the princes when he says the Tiger King was brought up
by an English nanny, tutored in English by an Englishman. He was given the milk of an English
cow and watched only English movies.
Q 9. Do you agree with the Maharaja’s statement, ‘You may kill even a cow in self-
defence’?
Ans. The Maharaja killed the Tigers, not in self-defence but to change his destiny as predicted
by the astrologers. He went in search of tigers with the intention of killing a hundred of them. This
statement of the Maharaja is not justified by his actions.
Q 10. What were the two restricting outside forces that checked the kings in those days
from doing exactly what they wished?
Ans. The eccentric kings of pre-partition India were afraid of two things. Firstly the British
Officers. They could lose their kingdom if they annoyed the Britishers. Secondly, if the subjects
were unhappy the rulers feared they would follow the Indian National Congress.
Q 11. Why did the Maharaja double the land tax?
Ans. Ninety-nine tigers had been successfully killed but the hundredth tiger could not be found.
News of a tiger being spotted at a hillside village came but it was false. The Maharaja doubled
the land tax in anger in order to teach the villagers a lesson.
Q 12. How did the Maharaja get the name ‘Tiger King’?
Ans. At the time of the birth of the Maharaja of Pratibandapuram, the astrologers declared that
the prince would have to die one day. The ten-day-old prince spoke miraculously. He asked the
astrologers to reveal the manner of his death. The chief astrologer replied that death would come
from a tiger. The young prince growled and uttered the terrifying words: ‘Let tigers beware!’ He
later decided to kill a hundred tigers and got the name Tiger king.
Q 13. Why did the Maharaja have to pay a bill of three lakh rupees to the British
jewellers? [Delhi 2017]
Ans. At one time the Maharaja was in danger of losing his throne as he had refused a high
ranking British officer to hunt tigers in Pratibandapuram. He was very fond of hunting tigers and
being photographed with them. Now the Maharaja stood in danger of losing his kingdom itself. To
appease the British officer, the Maharaja sent 50 expensive rings to the British officer’s good lady
who kept the whole lot. Thus the Maharaja lost three lakh of rupees.
Q 14. When did the Maharaja decide to double the land tax for a village? [All India 2017]
Ans. The hundredth tiger, essential to disprove the prophecy, could not be located. The
Maharaja’s anger and desperation were at a height. He called the dewan and arbitrarily ordered
him to double the land-tax forthwith. The dewan warned him that the people would rise in revolt.
Then their state too would fall a prey to the Indian National Congress but the king didn’t relent.
Important Long/ Detailed Answer Type Questions- to be answered in about 100 -150
words each Value-based questions.
Q1. The story ‘Tiger King’ gives a strong message to preserve
wildlife. It is the callous attitude of those in power to plunder
natural resources which have led to the miserable condition of
Mother Earth. Write an article on the topic.
Ans.
Preservation of Nature—Need of the hour
Nature—the creator, the mother, the giver, the protector. No
doubt nature is the essence of our existence on the earth. It is
nature which nourishes us and relieves us from the miseries of
life. The beautiful flowers, tall green trees, water streams valleys,
birds, insects, animals—all these are part of nature. Nature is a
perfect example of balance. But we human beings have no regard
for it. With our relentless step, we are destroying nature which
has resulted in lots of catastrophic —earthquakes, floods, famine,
etc. all due to the prevailing imbalance in nature. The cause of
this imbalance is the careless attitude and ruthless destruction of
flora and fauna by human beings. It is high time we understood
the importance of preservation of nature for the sustenance of
human species on the earth.
Practice Question
1.Astrology is considered to be a science which is logical and
rational. But the predictions made by astrologers about the Tiger
King and its aftereffects seem to be highly irrational. It has
brought disastrous effect on Nature. Write a speech to be
delivered in the morning assembly on the topic.
