Important Questions: The Tiger King | English Class 12 PDF Download

Short Answer Type Questions

Q1: What happened to the tiger provided by the Dewan Saheb?
Ans: The tiger provided by the Dewan Saheb was old and agile. It was passive and exhausted. The Tiger King did not take careful aim at the hundredth tiger. The tiger fainted due to the sound of the bullet and fell in a crumpled heap. No one wanted the Maharaja to know this. It was a hunter who actually shot the tiger later.

Q2: Why, do you think, was the Maharaja in danger of losing his throne?
Ans: A high-ranking British officer wished to go tiger hunting but he was declined permission by the Maharaja. The officer then requested to be photographed with a tiger killed by the Maharaja. The Maharaja rejected that request also. Having turned down a senior British officer’s request twice could have put the Maharaja in danger of losing his throne.

Q3: How did the Tiger King acquire his name?
Ans: The Maharaja of Pratibandapuram was known as the Tiger King. He got the name of Tiger King as tigers dominated his life and his mission to live. He killed seventy tigers in ten years and also married a girl from a State which had a large number of tigers in order to kill the next 30 tigers.

Q4: When and why did the Maharaja decide to get married?
Ans: 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.

Q5: Why did the Maharaja order the Dewan to double the land tax?
Ans: Despite being in the forest for many days the i Maharaja was unable to find the hundredth tiger so his fury and obstinacy mounted alarmingly. Due to his frustration and rage many officers lost their jobs and when his anger | reached its height he ordered the Dewan to double the land tax.

Q6: What gave the astrologers the greatest sur¬prise of their life while they were studying the horoscope of the ten-day-old prince?
Ans: While the astrologers were studying the horoscope of the ten-day-old prince, a great miracle took place that gave the astrologers the greatest surprise of their life. An astonishing phrase emerged from the lips of the ten-day-old prince and everyone stood transfixed in stupefaction.

Q7: The manner of his (The Tiger King’s) death is a matter of extraordinary interest. Comment.
Ans: The manner of the tiger king’s death is indeed a matter of extraordinary interest. The Tiger King vowed to kill a hundred tigers to ensure his longevity as when he was born, the chief astrologer had predicted that a tiger would be the cause of his death. He later brings a wooden tiger as a gift for his son and its tiny sliver of wood pierces his right hand. He neglects his injury which becomes grievous and led to his death. Thus, he gets killed by the hundredth tiger.

Q8: Why did the Tiger King decide to get married?
Ans: 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.

Q9: When he was only ten days old, a prediction was made about the future of the Tiger King. What was ironic about it?
Ans: When the king was a ten day old infant, the chief astrologer had predicted that a tiger would be responsible for the King’s death. So the king went on a tiger-killing spree but it was a wooden toy tiger that caused the Tiger King’s death. So despite getting rid of all the tigers in and around his kingdom, it was most ironic that the hundredth tiger, a wooden one, took its final revenge upon the King. A tiny sliver of wood from the wooden tiger pierces the King’s right hand which ultimately leads to his death.

Q10: What kind of life was enjoyed by crown prince Jung Bahadur till he reached the age of j twenty?
Ans: Till he reached the age of twenty the crown prince Jung Bahadur did exactly what the other crown princes of all the other Indian states did. He 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. He had an uneventful childhood just like any Indian prince during the British rule.

Long Answer Type Questions

Q11:  Describe the efforts made by the Tiger King to achieve his target of killing a hundred tigers.
Ans: The chief astrologer had told the King that his death would come from a tiger and he should be specially wary of the hundredth tiger. So to prove the astrologer wrong the King decided to kill a hundred tigers. He vowed that he would . attend to all other matters only after killing one hundred tigers. Initially, the king seemed well set to realise his ambition. Then some dangers and difficulties cropped up. There were times when the bullet missed its mark and at other times the tiger would leap on him and he would have to fight the wild beast with his bare hands. The Tiger King was able to kill ninety-nine tigers this way and if he could kill just one more tiger all his fears would be over for good and he could give up tiger hunting. But the hundredth tiger could not be found. The Dewan realized the disastrous results, if the hundredth tiger was not found. So a tiger was brought in from the People’s Park in Madras and taken directly to the forest where the Maharaja was hunting. The King took aim and the tiger fell in a heap. The Maharaja was extremely happy to have finally killed the hundredth tiger. After he left the hunters took a closer look at the tiger and realized the tiger was not dead as the king had missed the aim. They decided not to tell the Maharaja and one of the hunters killed the tiger. The king was left under the impression that he had achieved his target of killing a hundred tigers.

Q12: Why was the king worried after having killed ninety-nine tigers? How did his worries come to an end?
Ans: At the birth of the King, an astrologer had predicted that a tiger would be responsible for his death. At the age of twenty, the state astrologer had told him to be wary of the hundredth tiger. The Tiger King had killed ninety nine tigers and now he just needed to kill one tiger to reach his tally of killing a hundred tigers. Then he would have no fears left. So he is feverishly anxious to kill the hundredth tiger at the earliest. But the tiger farms ran dry in his father-in law’s kingdom also. Out of frustration, the King terminates the services of many officers and thinks of punishing the villagers by doubling the land tax. He also orders his Dewan either to resign or find a tiger. The Dewan gets worried and upset and recalls the old tiger that has been brought from Madras and kept hidden in his house. He drags the old and weak tiger and drives him to the forest where the King is hunting. The initially hesitant tiger then wanders into the Maharaja’s presence and is finally shot by the King.

Q13: Why did the Tiger King wish to hunt hundred tigers? How far was he able to fulfill his wish?
Ans: At the Tiger King’s birth the astrologer had predicted that the death of the new born future king would come through a tiger and he must specially beware of the hundredth tiger. Amaz¬ingly the new-born prince growled “Let tigers beware!”. He meant that he would not be afraid of tigers, instead tigers would be afraid of him and he would wipe them out to disprove the astrologers prediction. So when he came of age he wreaked havoc on the tiger population in an attempt to hunt a hundred tigers as soon as it was possible. The tiger king was able to kill ninety nine tigers successfully and he was under the impression that he had also killed the hundredth tiger. But the hundredth tiger had survived his bullet shot. Ironically the death of the Tiger King was brought about by a toy, a wooden tiger. Which he had bought as a special birthday gift for his son.

Q14: Giving a bribe is an evil practice. How did the Tiger King bribe the British officer to save his kingdom? How do you view this act of his?
Ans: The Maharaja had annoyed a British officer by refusing him permission to hunt a tiger in Pratibandapuram, and as a result he was in danger of losing his throne. Later to make amends he bribed the officer by sending about fifty samples of expensive diamond rings to the officer’s wife in the hope that she would keep one or two rings as a bribe. But the greedy lady kept all the rings. So the Maharaja lost three lakh rupees but was still happy because he had managed to retain his kingdom. The Maharaja was absolutely certain of one thing, that he would not let anyone else shoot a tiger in his kingdom. He annoyed the British officer and later paid a heavy bribe to appease the official. Even after losing a large amount of money the Maharaja was happy because he had not only managed to retain his throne but also dissuaded the British officer from shooting a tiger.

Q15: How did the Tiger King meet his end? What is ironical about his fate?
Ans: The Maharaja of Pratibandapuram, who was also known as the Tiger King tried to go against what was destined in his fate. The result was tragic and ironical. The chief astrologer had predicted that a tiger would be the cause of the king’s death and he should specially be wary of the hundredth tiger. The vain king banned hunting of the tigers in the State by everyone except himself and was able to kill ninety-nine tigers. He thought he had killed the hundredth tiger also but somehow the bullet missed its mark and the hundredth tiger survived. Then on his son’s birthday the king bought him a wooden tiger which he felt was a perfect gift for his son. One of the sharp splinter in it pierced the king’s hand and the infection spread all over his arm causing his death. It was indeed ironic that despite killing all the tigers in his kingdom the king did finally become the victim of the hundredth tiger and the astrologer’s prediction did come true.

Q16: When did the Tiger King stand in danger of losing his kingdom? How was he able to avert the danger?
Ans: A high-ranking British officer, who was actually a coward, wanted to kill a tiger to flaunt himself before his compatriots. When he was not allowed to hunt a tiger he sent a word to the King that he would be happy if he was just allowed to be photographed with a dead tiger killed by the King. But the King was adamant and did not agree to his request because it would encourage the other officers to come with similar demands. The King thus seriously angered the visiting senior British officer and now ‘stood in danger of losing his kingdom itself’. So to pacify the annoyed official, the King and his Dewan sent bribes of fifty expensive diamond rings to the official’s wife hoping she would select one or two and return the rest. But the greedy lady kept all the rings. The King, no doubt, lost a few lakhs but managed to save his throne and was thus able to avert the danger of losing his kingdom.

Q17: The astrologer’s prediction about the death of the Tiger King came to be true. Do you agree with this statement? Explain why or why not.
Ans: The chief-astrologer had forewarned the king that a tiger would be responsible for his death and he should be particularly beware of the hundredth tiger. After killing the hundredth tiger the king was relaxed and became careless. He did not know that the hundredth tiger had actually survived because the bullet had missed its mark. Finally it was a tiger who was responsible for the king’s death though it was a toy-tiger which he had bought as a birthday gift for his son. The carved toy tiger had a rough surface with sharp wooden splinters. One of these sharp splinters pierced the king’s right hand and caused a deadly infection that spread all over his arm. Three surgeons tried their level best but they could not save the king and so the astrologer’s prediction did indeed come true. Despite the fact that the king took every measure to avoid the circumstance of his death the hundredth tiger took its final revenge upon the king as predicted by the astrologer.

Q18: Giving a bribe is an evil practice. How did the Tiger King bribe the British officer to save his kingdom? How do you view this act of his?
Ans: The Maharaja had annoyed a British officer by refusing him permission to hunt a tiger in Pratibandapuram, and as a result he was in danger of losing his throne. Later to make amends he bribed the officer by sending about fifty samples of expensive diamond rings to the officer’s wife in the hope that she would keep one or two rings as a bribe. But the greedy lady kept all the rings. So the Maharaja lost three lakh rupees but was still happy because he had managed to retain his kingdom. The Maharaja was absolutely certain of one thing, that he would not let anyone else shoot a tiger in his kingdom. He annoyed the British officer and later paid a heavy bribe to appease the official. Even after losing a large amount of money the Maharaja was happy because he had not only managed to retain his throne but also dissuaded the British officer from shooting a tiger.