CBSE Class 12 English Chapter 2: The Tiger King NCERT Solutions

The 'Tiger King' is the Maharaja of Pratibandapuram. He earned this title due to a dramatic event at his birth. When he was just ten days old, astrologers predicted that his death would come from a tiger. In response to this prophecy, the young prince, Jung Jung Bahadur, challenged the astrologers, declaring, "Let tigers beware!" He then vowed to begin his hunt for tigers, ultimately aiming to kill one hundred of them. This fierce determination and his subsequent lifelong pursuit of tigers led to him being known as the Tiger King.

The royal infant, Crown Prince Jung Jung Bahadur, grew up to be a strong and imposing figure. He was raised by an English nanny and educated by an Englishman, which influenced his upbringing. Upon reaching adulthood and assuming control of his state at the age of twenty, he became known for his decision to hunt tigers. This decision was partly motivated by a sense of self-defense, stemming from the astrologers' prophecy that a tiger would be the cause of his death.

After successfully killing seventy tigers within the first ten years of his reign, the Maharaja found that the tiger population in Pratibandapuram had become virtually extinct. To fulfill his vow of killing one hundred tigers, he devised a plan. He decided to get married, specifically seeking a bride from a royal family in a state known for its large tiger population. His Dewan was tasked with gathering statistics on tiger populations in various native states to identify a suitable match. By visiting his father-in-law and hunting there, the Maharaja managed to kill five or six tigers on each visit, allowing him to continue his hunt and eventually reach ninety-nine tigers.

As the Maharaja neared his goal of killing one hundred tigers, his anxiety intensified, especially with only one tiger left to hunt. He became consumed by thoughts of this final tiger, both day and night. However, finding the hundredth tiger proved incredibly difficult, as the tiger population had dwindled even in his father-in-law's kingdom. This scarcity plunged the Maharaja into gloom, as he knew the hundredth tiger was prophesied to be the cause of his death. A glimmer of hope appeared when villagers reported a tiger attacking sheep in a hillside village within his own state. The Maharaja immediately announced tax exemptions for the village and set out for the hunt, determined to find and kill the elusive beast, though it continued to evade him despite his prolonged efforts in the forest.

The prophecy was not disproved in the way the Maharaja intended. The astrologer who made the prediction had already passed away, so he could neither be rewarded nor punished for the outcome. To ensure the Maharaja killed the hundredth tiger and to save himself from potential royal wrath, the Dewan procured an old tiger from the Madras People's Park. He secretly brought it to the hunting grounds. The Maharaja, overjoyed at finding the 'last' tiger, shot at it. The tiger fell, and the hunters, discovering it was only stunned and not dead, secretly killed it themselves to prevent the Maharaja from knowing he hadn't personally killed the hundredth tiger. They then erected a tomb over it. The prophecy, however, was ironically fulfilled later when the Maharaja died from an infection caused by a sliver from a wooden tiger he had bought as a gift for his son, proving that fate, in its own mysterious way, had found its course.

The author masterfully uses dramatic irony to satirize the arrogance and vanity of powerful individuals in 'The Tiger King'. Dramatic irony occurs when the audience or reader possesses knowledge that a character lacks. In this story, the reader is aware of the astrologers' prophecies and the ultimate, ironic fate awaiting the Maharaja. The Maharaja's relentless pursuit of killing one hundred tigers, driven by his ego and a desire to disprove the prophecy, is seen by the reader as a futile and ultimately self-destructive endeavor. His belief that he is in control and defying fate is contrasted with the reader's understanding of his impending doom. Similarly, the British officer's vanity, shown by his desire for a photograph with the tiger carcass rather than the hunt itself, is also highlighted through irony, as the Maharaja has to appease him with expensive gifts to avoid jeopardizing his own life and hunt.

The author makes a poignant, indirect comment on the cruelty humans inflict upon innocent animals through the Maharaja's actions. The story illustrates how powerful individuals often exploit and endanger wildlife for their own amusement, ego, or perceived self-defense, disregarding the ecological balance. The Maharaja's hunt, which leads to the near extinction of tigers in his state, serves as a stark example of this. His justification of killing tigers in 'self-defense,' citing an old saying about killing a cow, reveals a callous disregard for animal life. The need to bring an old tiger from a distant park to satisfy the king's whim further emphasizes the unnatural and destructive extent of human willfulness over the natural world, highlighting the severe consequences for biodiversity.