Study Notes: The Tiger King
Astrological Prophecy and Early Life
The Maharaja of Pratibandapuram, Sir Jilani Jung Jung Bahadur, also known as the Tiger King, held titles including Jamedar-General, Khiledar-Major, and Maharajadhiraja Visva Bhuvana Samrat. When he was a ten-day-old infant, the chief astrologer foretold his death, explaining that because he was born in the hour of the Bull and the Bull and Tiger are enemies, death would come from a tiger. The baby remarkably spoke up, questioning the manner of his death and declaring, "Let tigers beware!" Raised in English luxury, drinking the milk of an English cow, and tutored by an Englishman, he inherited the state from the Court of Wards upon turning years old.
The Pursuit of One Hundred Tigers
To disprove the prophecy, the Maharaja killed his first tiger and showed it to the chief astrologer. The astrologer warned that although he might kill tigers, he had to be extremely careful with the hundredth. Consequently, tiger hunting by anyone else was strictly banned in Pratibandapuram on pain of losing property. To retain his kingdom after denying a high-ranking British officer the right to hunt, the Maharaja dispatched expensive diamond rings to the officer's wife, incurring a bill of of rupees from jewellers in Calcutta.
Over years, the Maharaja killed tigers in Pratibandapuram, completely wiping out the local tiger population. To complete his goal, he married a royal bride from a native state boasting a vast tiger population. Each time he visited his father-in-law, he killed five or six tigers, bringing his total count to tiger skins decorating the palace walls.
The Fateful Hundredth Tiger
Desperate for the final tiger, the Maharaja searched relentlessly. When sheep disappeared from a hillside village (ascertained not to be the work of Khader Mian Saheb or Virasami Naicker), he exempted the village from taxes and set out to hunt. Unable to find the tiger, his rage mounted, and he ordered the dewan to double the land tax. To avoid total ruin, the dewan secretly retrieved an old tiger from the People's Park in Madras and brought it to the forest. The Maharaja fired, and the tiger collapsed in a heap.
Unbeknownst to the Maharaja, the bullet missed, and the tiger had merely fainted from the shock of the whizzing bullet. Fearing punishment, one of the hunters shot the tiger dead from a distance of . The dead tiger was carried through the town in a grand procession and buried under a tomb.
Irony and Fulfillment of Fate
During his son's third birthday celebration, the Maharaja purchased a crudely carved wooden tiger from a toyshop as a gift. Though it cost only two annas and a quarter, the shopkeeper sold it for as a rare work of art. While playing with his son, a sharp sliver of wood on the unpolished toy pierced the Maharaja's right hand.
The infection flared, turning into a suppurating sore that spread across his arm in . Three famous surgeons brought from Madras conducted an operation and announced that the operation was successful, but the Maharaja died. Ultimately, the hundredth tiger took its revenge, fulfilling the prophecy.