THE TIGER KING BY KALKI. CBSE GRADE 12 ENGLISH, QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

GRADE 12 ENGLISH (CBSE)

THE TIGER KING

BY KALKI (RAMASWAMY AIYER KRISHNAMOORTHY)

NCERT SOLUTIONS

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Q1. Who is the Tiger King? Why does he get that name?
Ans. ”The Tiger king” is a short name of His highness Jamedar General, Khiledar – Major, Sata Vyaghra Samhari, Maharajadhiraja Visva Bhuvana Samrat and Jilani Jung Jung Bahadur.

At the time of the his birth, the astrologers predicted that the prince was born in the hour of Bull. The Bull and the Tiger were enemies, therefore his death would come from a tiger. Then the Maharaja started killing tigers. His mission was to kill hundred tigers. So the people called him the tiger king.

Q2. What did the royal infant grow up to be?
Ans. The royal infant grew taller and stronger day-by-day. He drank the milk of an English cow, was brought up by an English nanny, tutored in English by an Englishman and  saw nothing but English films. He grew up exactly like other crown prince's of his neighboring kingdoms.

Q3. What will the Maharaja do to find the required number of tigers to kill?
Ans. The chief astrologer predicted that the King must be very careful with the hundredth tiger. So he decided to kill hundred tigers. He killed seventy tigers from Pratibandapuram forest within ten years. Then he married a princess  whose kingdom had a large tiger population. He killed five or six tigers whenever he visited his father -in law. In that way he killed ninety nine tigers. But the hundredth tiger was brought from the People’s Park, Madras by the Diwan. It was a tamed tiger. 

Q4. How will the Maharaja prepare himself for the hundredth tiger which was supposed to decide his fate?
Ans. Maharaja asked the Diwan to locate a tiger. But he was unable to find out because the tiger population became extinct in the forest of Pradibandhapuram. The Diwan and his aged wife went to the People’s Park in Madras and bought a tiger from there. They released the beast in the forest where Maharaja was hunting. Maharaja aimed at the tiger. The tiger fell in a crumpled heap. He thought he killed the hundredth tiger.

Q5. What would happen to the astrologer when the king killed hundred tigers ? Do you think the prophecy was indisputably disproved?
Ans. The chief astrologer who predicted that Maharaja must be careful with the hundredth tiger passed away years back. If he didn't pass away, the king might punish him awarding a death warrant.

The prophecy was indisputably proved and Kalki dragged the readers to superstition. The king died due to the infection caused by a sliver of a wooden tiger. Whether wooden tiger or a living tiger he met his death with a tiger.

Q6.When did the Tiger King stand in danger of losing his kingdom? How was he managed it?
Ans: The state banned tiger hunting by anyone except the Maharaja.  By that time a high ranking British officer visited Pratibandhapuram. He wanted to hunt tigers and photographed with tigers he had shot down. But the Maharaja refused permission. The British officer left empty handed.

Because he prevented a British officer from fulfilling his desire , the Maharaja stood in danger of losing his kingdom. Then the Maharaja bought fifty expensive diamond rings of different designs from a famous British company of jewelers in Calcutta and sent to the wife of the British officer thinking that she would take one or two rings. But she took all the rings and sent a reply thanking his gifts. In this way Maharaja managed to retain his kingdom.

VERY SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS

1. What was the miracle mentioned in "The Tiger King"?

Ans: When the astrologers predicted about the prince's death, a ten day old prince addressed the astrologers and raised intelligent questions. That was the miracle.

 

2. Why did the state ban tiger hunting except the king?

Ans: As Maharaja had to fulfill his vow to kill hundred tigers, the state banned the tiger hunting except the king because he had to fulfill his taget.

3. What did the British officer's secretary tell the Maharaja? Why did the Maharaja refuse permission?

Ans: The British officer's secretary told the Maharaja that the British officer did not want to kill tigers. He wanted to take photograph of himself holding the gun standing near the dead body of the tiger. The Maharaja refused it because he thought that if he admitted it other British officers would also turn up for tiger hunt.

4. The people in power are whimsical. Do you agree?

Ans: Yes, I do agree. The Maharaja acts as a funny man throughout the story. When he hears that there is a tiger in a village, he exempts land tax of the village for three years. But when the tiger is not found, he becomes angry and orders to increase double  the tax forthwith.

5. What was the secret of the hundredth tiger?

Ans: The Dewan and his wife went to the People's Park at Madras and bought a tamed circus tiger. They placed the tiger secretly where the Maharaja was hunting. The Maharaja didn't understand that it was a tamed circus tiger.

 

6. Why was the Maharaja so anxious to kill the hundredth tiger?
Ans. The Maharaja had killed ninety-nine tigers. If he could kill just one more tiger, he would have no fear left as per the prediction of the astrologers. Then he could give up tiger hunting altogether. He knew that he had to be extremely careful with the hundredth tiger as per the prediction.

 

Q7. How did the hundredth tiger take its final revenge upon the Tiger King?
Ans. The Tiger King did not kill the hundredth tiger. He missed his aim. The tiger jumped into a waste pit. It didn't understand anything.

It was a wooden tiger from the toyshop that became the cause of Maharaja’s death. One of the slivers on its body pierced the Maharaja’s right hand. Infection flared up and the prick developed into a suppurating sore. The Maharaja died during the operation.

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