Question

Giving a bribe is an evil practice. how did the tiger king bribe the british officer to save his kingdom?

Answer 1

The Tiger King had to bribe the British officer’s wife in order to save his kingdom. The British officer wanted to hunt a tiger in the King’s kingdom. But the Maharaja was firm in his resolve. He refused permission.

The British officer’s secretary sent word to the Maharaja through the Diwan that the durai (the British officer) himself did not have to kill the tiger. The Maharaja could do the actual killing. What was important to the durai was a photograph of him holding the gun and standing over the tiger’s carcass. But the Maharaja would not agree even to this proposal. If he relented now, what would he do if other British officers turned up for tiger hunts? Because he prevented a British officer from fulfilling his desire, the Maharaja stood in danger of losing his kingdom itself.

The Tiger king then sought his wise Diwan’s advice. He suggested that the British officer’s wife could save them from losing their kingdom. So, they sent fifty diamond rings as bribe to The ‘duraisani’ (The British Officer’s wife) expecting her to keep one or two out of them and send the rest back. However, the ‘duraisani’ turned out to be very greedy; she kept all the fifty rings and sent a ‘thank you’ letter to the king.

Answer 2

Tiger King was obsessed with the idea of killing tigers in his kingdom as his astrologer predicted his death would come from tiger. As he grew, he took upon himself the responsibility of hunting tigers in his kingdom to escape the fear of death. A British Officer came to his kingdom who was fond of hunting and taking his picture with the dead animal. Tiger king refused to permit him as he felt if he relented, there would be other British officers coming and asking him permission to hunt. He replied that the officer may hunt boar, hunt mouse or even mosquito, but hunting tiger was out of question. His kingdom was at stake due to his denial. So, Tiger King arranged to get diamond rings from a British jeweler company in Calcutta, fifty rings in all. He sent them to his wife to keep what she liked expecting that she would keep one or two, but she kept all of them. It costed him three lac rupees, a big amount, but he was satisfied that his kingdom was saved.