In Kalki's famous satirical story 'The Tiger King' (featured in the Class 12 English Vistas textbook), the central character is the Maharaja of Pratibandapuram. Despite having a long list of grand, complicated titles, he is simply remembered by everyone as the Tiger King. The reason for this unique name is deeply rooted in a bizarre astrological prophecy and a lifelong, obsessive quest.
Author: Kalki.
Character: Maharaja Sir Jilani Jung Jung Bahadur of Pratibandapuram.
The Prophecy: He would be killed by a tiger.
The Quest: To hunt and kill 100 tigers to prove the prophecy wrong.
Cause of Death: An infection from a sliver of a wooden toy tiger.
When the Maharaja was born, the chief astrologer made a chilling prediction. He stated that the prince was born in the hour of the Bull. Since the Bull and the Tiger are natural enemies, the astrologer prophesied that the Maharaja's death would eventually come from a tiger. Astoundingly, the ten-day-old royal infant spoke up, growling, "Let tigers beware!"
When the Maharaja grew up and took the throne at age 20, he remembered the prophecy. To prove the astrologer wrong and secure his own immortality, he set out on an obsessive mission to hunt down and kill exactly 100 tigers. He killed his first tiger with ease, but the chief astrologer warned him that while he might kill 99 tigers safely, he must be extremely careful with the 100th tiger.
From that day forward, the Maharaja's entire life, political reign, and identity revolved solely around tigers. He banned tiger hunting in his state for anyone except himself. When he ran out of tigers in his own kingdom, he married a princess specifically because her father's kingdom had a large tiger population. Because his sole purpose in life became the hunting of tigers, he rightfully earned the moniker 'The Tiger King'.
The story's brilliant satire concludes ironically. The Maharaja thought he had successfully shot the 100th tiger, but he actually missed, and the tiger only fainted from the shock of the bullet. Later, while playing with his son, the King was pierced by a sliver of wood from a poorly carved wooden toy tiger. The infection spread, and the Tiger King died, proving that the prophecy of the 100th tiger taking his life came true—just not in the way he expected.
He gets the name because his entire life, identity, and reign became obsessed with hunting and killing exactly 100 tigers to disprove an astrologer's prophecy regarding his death.
The astrologer prophesied that because the prince was born in the hour of the Bull, his death would be caused by the Bull's enemy, the Tiger. Specifically, the 100th tiger would be the cause of his demise.
Ironically, he did not die from a real tiger. He died from an infection caused by a tiny wooden sliver that pierced his hand while he was playing with a poorly carved wooden toy tiger with his son.
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