The Tiger King Summary in English and Hindi Pdf. The Tiger King is written by Kalki.
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The Tiger King Summary in English by Kalki
The Tiger King by Kalki About the Author
Kalki is the pen-name of Ramaswamy Aiyer Krishnamurthy (9 September 1899 – 5 December 1954). He was a Tamil writer, journalist, poet, critic and Freedom Movement activist. His writings include over 120 short stories, 10 novelettes, five novels, three historical romances, editorials and political writings and hundreds of films and music reviews. Kalki received the Sangeetha Kalasikhami award conferred on him by the Indian Fine Arts Society in 1953. On the occasion of the centenary celebrations, a postage stamp was released in his honour. His works were nationalised by the government of Tamil Nadu.
| Author Name | Kalki Krishnamurthy |
| Born | 9 September 1899, Manalmedu |
| Died | 5 December 1954, Chennai |
| Movies | Ponniyin Selvan, Thyaga Bhoomi, Kalvanin Kadhali, Parthiban Kanavu, Meera, Tananam Tananam, Ponvayal |
| Short stories | Tiger King, Otrai Roja, Tharkolai, Amara Vazhvu |
The Tiger King Theme
‘The Tiger King’ is a story about transience of life and power. It is a satire on the conduct of the people in power. It is found that most of the time, the rulers are not interested and bothered about working for public welfare. Rather, they spend their time in foolish things. Most of the people, who surround these powerful people, are also interested in taking advantage of the proximity for their own welfare.
The Tiger King Summary in English
‘The Tiger King’ describes Maharaja Sir Jilani Jung Jung Bahadur of Pratibandapuram. When the king was just 10 days old, astrologers predicted that he would be killed by a tiger. At this the 10-day-old prince, for a surprise to all, uttered, ‘Let tigers beware!’. The child grew like any other royal child, drinking the milk of a white cow, looked after by an English nanny and watching English movies.
At the age of 20, he was crowned the king and came to know about the prediction relating to his death. From then, he started killing tigers and banned the tiger hunt by any other person in the state. As per the astrologer he needed to be careful with the hundredth tiger even if he had killed ninety-nine tigers.
Once a high ranking British officer visited his state and wanted to go for tiger hunting. But his wish was declined and in order to secure his state from the wrath of the British officer, the Maharaja sent 50 diamond rings worth Rs. 3 lakh to the officer’s wife.
The Maharaja killed seventy tigers in ten years and there was no tiger left in Pratibandapuram. In order to achieve his target of killing hundred tigers, the Maharaja decided to marry a girl from a royal state which had more tigers to complete his target. Every time, when he used to visit his in-laws, he used to kill 5-6 tigers. In this way he could kill ninety-nine tigers but couldn’t find the hundredth tiger. The Maharaja got furious for not finding the hundredth tiger and threatened the Dewan, who in order to save himself, got an old tiger from the circus and with great difficulty placed it in the forest.
The Maharaja shot this tiger and felt happy and victorious. But, in fact, the bullet did not hit the tiger. The tiger collapsed out of fear. But none of the staff wanted to take the risk of telling the Maharaja the truth. So they killed it and brought it in a grand procession.
Finally, the Tiger King was happy and satisfied. On the third birthday of his son, he bought a wooden tiger as a gift for his son. This was so poorly carved that as the Tiger King was playing with it, a tiny sliver of the wood pierced his right hand which later on developed an infection. He was operated upon and during this, he died. Thus, ironically the hundredth tiger, i.e. the wooden tiger, took its revenge on the Tiger King.
Character Sketch of The Tiger King or The Maharaja
The Maharaja or The Tiger King: The Tiger King was a typical royal personality. He was born into a royal family and grew up into a strong young man who at the age of 20 was crowned the king of Pratibandapuram. At this time, he came to know about a prophesy relating to his death to be caused by a tiger. He decided to kill 100 tigers before a tiger could kill him.
The Tiger King symbolises a ruler having power and authority but none of it is directed to the welfare of the state. He behaves like a dictator and his ministers bow before him in mortal fear. They become a party to his ruthless killing of tigers. He is whimsical and goes to extremes. For example, when he is happy, there are processions, exemption of taxes, etc. but when he is angry, taxes are doubled, punishments become severe. The entire state machinery is misused and manipulated in his pursuit of killing tigers.
The Tiger King seems to be crazy, eccentric and inhumane. He starts killing tigers just to prove the prediction wrong. Though he exhibits his valour by killing tigers, he is a coward at heart and is scared of death.
Character Sketch of Dewan in The Tiger King
Dewan: The Dewan is a senior courtier but in reality holds no authority. He is very scared of the Tiger King and survives at his mercy. Though he is sensible and experienced he is never listened to or given any respect by the king. His practical knowledge helped the king to save his kingdom. When the Tiger King refused the British officer to hunt the tiger, it was Dewan’s idea of gifting diamond rings to his wife to save the kingdom from the wrath of the British officer.
Dewan’s efforts to locate and present the hundredth tiger are very comical. When he got an ultimatum from the King, he brought an old tiger from a circus and placed it in the forest. The Tiger King shoots this tiger and gets the satisfaction of killing the hundredth tiger. Though at times, he appears to be foolish, the Dewan is practical enough to save himself.