Thus the hundredth tiger takes his final revenge upon the “Tiger King”. While the Maharaja was playing with the prince, a tiny sliver of the wooden tiger pierced his right hand which later on caused his death. He bought a wooden tiger that was poorly carved. It was the third birthday of the Maharaja’s son and he wanted to buy a present from the toyshop. Now the staff killed the tiger and brought it in a grand procession. The bullet did not hit the tiger but out of fear the tiger had collapsed. The Maharaja took great care and shot the tiger and left the place with great triumph. Now the Dewan was afraid of losing his job so he visited ‘People’s Park in Madras’ and brought an old tiger and placed it in the forest and informed the Maharaja.
He asked his Dewan to find the tiger otherwise face his anger. News about the presence of a tiger near a village proved disappointing. So he killed 99 tigers and was feverishly anxious to kill the 100th but couldn’t find it. Whenever he visited his in-laws, he killed 5-6 tigers. In 10 years, he killed 70 tiger and didn’t find any in Pratibandapuram so he decided to marry a girl from royal state which had more tigers to complete his target. So to please the officer’s wife, he sent 50 diamond rings expecting that she would take one or two, instead she kept all the rings costing 3 lakh rupees and sent ‘thanks’ to the Maharaja. The officer requested for getting a photograph with a tiger killed by Maharaja and this request was rejected. A high-ranking British officer visited the state that was fond of hunting tigers and his wish was declined. None except Maharaja was allowed to hunt tigers. He pledged that all other affairs of the state would be attended after killing a hundred tigers. It was then the prediction of his death by the tiger reached the Maharaja’s ear and he in turn to safeguard himself killed a tiger and being thrilled he told the astrologer who replied that he can kill 99 tigers but should be careful with the 100th. He was taught by an English tutor and looked after by an English nanny. No other miracle took place, the child grew like any other Royal child drinking white cow’s milk. When he was just 10 days old, he asked intelligent questions to the astrologers and was told that he would be killed by a tiger. The Maharaja Sir Jilani Jung Jung Bhadur was called “Tiger King”. Duraisani: the wife of the high ranking British officer, a greedy woman who takes all the 50 or so diamond rings for herself. Dewan: a chief administrative office of the Maharaja.ħ. A British high ranking officer & his secretaryĦ. Chief astrologer: a royal foreteller of the state.Ĥ. One of the slivers of wood pierced his right hand and caused infection and a suppurating sore. Ironically, the hundredth tiger which caused his death was not a ferocious beast of blood and flesh. The last tiger he thought to be dead survived. The hero who killed ninety-nine tigers couldn’t kill the only one that was left. The irony of fate brings quite an unexpected end of the Maharaja. But the hundredth tiger eluded him till his death.
All his strategies and wise plans worked until he killed 99 tigers. His campaign of tiger-hunting was very successful. The King tried his best to belie the prediction. The chief astrologer had predicted that the cause of his death would be a tiger. The Maharaja of Pratibandapuram tried to belie what was written in his fate.
They flouted all laws and bent them to suit their selfish interests. Most of the time the rulers were not interested in serving the people and working for the welfare of the public instead they spent their time in foolish pursuits. These kings lived under the thumb rule of British, hence they fear them. The writer takes us to the days of autocratic and eccentric kings. The story ‘The Tiger King’ is a satire on the pride and stubbornness of those in power.
Krishnamurthy began his primary education in his village school and later attended Municipal High School in Mayavaram but quit in 1921 for joining Gandhiji’s call for non-co-operation. Krishnamurthy’s father was Ramaswamy Aiyar, a poor accountant in Puttamangalam village in the old Tanjore district of erstwhile Madras Presidency. His writings includes over 120 short stories, 10 novelettes, 5 novels, 3 historical romances, editorial and political writings and hundreds of film and music reviews. He derived his pen name Kalki from the suffixes of his wife name Kalyani and his name Krishnamurthy. He was better known by his pen name Kalki. Ramaswamy Aiyer Krishnamurthy was a Tamil writer, journalist, poet, critic and Indian independence activist.