The Tiger King — Class 12 English PYQs

Read the following extract and answer the questions :

At midnight when the town slept in peace, the Dewan and his aged wife dragged the tiger to the car and shoved it into the seat. The Dewan himself drove the car straight to the forest where the Maharaja was hunting. When they reached the forest, the tiger launched its Satyagraha and refused to get out of the car. The Dewan was thoroughly exhausted in his efforts to haul the beast out of the car and push it down to the ground.

On the following day, the same old tiger wandered into the Maharaja's presence and stood as if in humble supplication, "Master, what do you command of me ?" It was with boundless joy that the Maharaja took careful aim at the beast. The tiger fell in a crumpled heap.

(i) How did the Dewan manage to take the tiger to the forest ?

"If you want to test a man's character, give him power." Analyse the theme of The Tiger King in the light of the above quote.

From that day onwards it was celebration time for all the tigers inhabiting Dorai. The State banned tiger hunting by anyone except the Maharaja. A proclamation was issued to the effect that if anyone dared to fling so much as a stone at a tiger, all his wealth and property would be confiscated. The Dorai kingdom therefore became a kind of tiger sanctuary where the weights of all the tigers were checked daily. The Maharaja vowed he would attend to all other matters only after he had killed the hundred tigers. Initially the hunting yielded fantastic results. The Maharaja seemed well set to realise his ambition.

Why was tiger hunting banned for everyone except the Maharaja?

What was the punishment for anyone who harmed a tiger in the kingdom?

Complete the following sentence appropriately.
The Dorai kingdom became like a tiger sanctuary because _________.

The phrase 'the Maharaja seemed well set to realise his ambition' suggests

'They decided that the Maharaja must not come to know that he had missed the target.' Why did the hunters try to hide the truth from the king?

'Your Majesty, I have two wives already...' Discuss the importance of humour in 'The Tiger King' and how the author uses it to satirise the royal class.

'The boy drank the milk of an English cow...' Discuss how the story highlights the influence of western culture on Indian royalty and its consequences.