the neighbourhood of a village, the population of which it finds an easier prey than wild animals. Though chiefly affecting grassy plains or swamps, tigers are also found in forests, and seem to be fond of haunting the neighbourhood of old ruins. As a rule, they do not climb trees; but when pressed by fear, as during an inundation, they have been known to do so. They take to the water readily and are good swimmers. The tigers of the Sundarbans (Ganges delta) continually swim from one island to the other to change their hunting-grounds for deer. The following extract from Sir J. Fayrer's Royal Tiger of Bengal (1875) may complete this notice of the tiger's habits.
The tigress gives birth to from two to five, even six cubs; but three is a frequent number. She is a most affectionate and attached mother, and generally guards and trains her young with the most watchful solicitude. They remain with her until nearly full-grown, or about the second year, when they are able to kill for themselves and begin life on their own account. Whilst they remain with her she is peculiarly vicious and aggressive, defending them with the greatest courage and energy, and when robbed of them is terrible in her rage; but she has been known to desert them when pressed, and even to eat them when starved. As soon as they begin to require other food than her milk, she kills for them, teaching them to do so for themselves by practising on small animals, such as deer and young calves or pigs. At these times she is wanton and extravagant in her cruelty, killing apparently for the gratification of her ferocious and bloodthirsty nature, and perhaps to excite and instruct the young ones, and it is not until they are thoroughly capable of killing their own food that she separates from them. The young tigers are far more destructive than the old. They will kill three or four cows at a time, while the older and more experienced rarely kill more than one, and this at intervals of from three or four days to a week. For this purpose the tiger will leave its retreat in the dense jungle, proceed to the neighbourhood of a village or gowrie, where cattle feed, and during the night steal on and strike down a bullock, drag it into a secluded place, and then remain near the “murrie” or “kill,” for several days, until it has eaten it, when it will proceed in search of a further supply, and, having found good hunting ground in the vicinity of a village or gowrie, continue its ravages, destroying one or two cows or buffaloes a week. It is very fond of the ordinary domestic cattle, which in the plains of India are generally weak, half-starved, under-sized creatures. One of these is easily struck down and carried or dragged off. The smaller buffaloes are also easily disposed of; but the buffalo bulls, and especially the wild ones, are formidable antagonists, and have often been known to beat the tiger off, and even to wound him seriously. (W. H. F.; R. L.*)
TIGER-CAT, typically Felis tigrina, an American wild cat ranging from Mexico, on the east of the Andes to Paraguay and the central forest region of Argentina. Together the head and body measure something over 30 in., of which the tail counts for a third. The fur is grizzly grey, with black spots that do not form chains. The name is also applied to the Ocelot (q.v.), and often used of any small striped or spotted wild cat, either from the western or eastern hemisphere.
TIGER-FLOWER, known botanically as Tigridia, a genus of
bulbous plants (natural order Iridaceae), natives of Mexico,
Central America, Peru and Chile. They have long narrow
plicately-veined leaves springing from the bulb and a stem bearing
two or three scattered smaller leaves and above a few flowers
emerging from a spathe. The flowers are spotted (whence the
name tiger-flower or tiger-iris) and have free segments springing
from a tube; the three large broad outer segments are concavely
spreading, the three inner are much smaller and more erect.
T. pawnia (Flower of Tigris) has large flowers with a golden
orange, white or yellow ground colour.
TIGHE, MARY (1772–1810), Irish poet, daughter of the Rev. William Blachford, was born on the 9th of October 1772. In 1793 she contracted what proved to be an unhappy marriage with her cousin, Henry Tighe, of Woodstock, Co. Wicklow. She died on the 24th of March 1810, at Woodstock, Co. Kilkenny, and was buried at Inistioge. Mrs Tighe was the author of a poem of unusual merit, Psyche or the Legend of Love, printed privately in 1805 and published posthumously in 1811 with some other poems. It is founded on the story as told by Apuleius, and is written in the Spenserian stanza. The poem had many admirers, and high praise is awarded it in a contemporary notice in the Quarterly Review (May 1811).
TIGLATH-PILESER (Ass. Tukulti-pal-E-sarra, “my confidence
is the son of E-sarra,” i.e. the god In-Aristi), the name of
several Assyrian kings. The numbering of these kings is not certain.
Tiglath-Pileser I., the son of Assur-ris-isi, ascended the throne c. 1120 B.C., and was one of the greatest of Assyrian conquerors. His first campaign was against the Moschi who had occupied certain Assyrian districts on the Upper Euphrates; then he overran Commagene and eastern Cappadocia, and drove the Hittites from the Assyrian province of Subarti north-east of Malatia. In subsequent campaign the Assyrian forces penetrated into the Kurdish mountains south of Lake Van and then turned westward, Malatia submitting to the invader. In his fifth year Tiglath-Pileser attacked Comana in Cappadocia, and placed a record of his victories engraved on copper plates in a fortress he built to secure his Cilician conquests. The Aramaeans of north Syria were the next to be attacked, and he thrice made his way as far as the sources of the Tigris. The command of the high, road to the Mediterranean was secured by the possession of the Hittite town of Pethor at the junction of the 3 Euphrates and Sajur, and at Arvad he received presents, including a crocodile, from the Egyptian king, and, embarking in a ship, killed a dolphin in the sea. He was passionately fond of the chase and was also a great builder, the restoration of the temple of Assur and Hadad at Assur (q.v.) being one of his works.
Tiglath-Pileser II. or III., son of Hadad-nirari II., appears to have reigned from about 950 to 930 B.C., but nothing is known about him.
Tiglath-Pileser III. or IV., was a successful general who usurped the Assyrian throne on the 13th of Iyyar 745 B.C., after the fall of the older dynasty, and changed his name of Pulu (Pul) to that of the famous conqueror of earlier times. In Babylonia, however, he continued to be known as Pulu. He was a man of great ability, both military and administrative, and initiated a new system of policy in Assyria which he aimed at making the head of a centralized empire, bound together by a bureaucracy who derived their power from the king. The empire was supported by a standing army and an elaborate system of finance. The first task of Tiglath-Pileser was to reduce the Aramaean tribes to order, and so win the gratitude of the Babylonian priests. Then he struck terror into the wild tribes on the eastern frontiers of the kingdom by a campaign which extended into the remotest parts of Media. Next came the defeat of a northern coalition headed by Sar-duris of Ararat, no fewer than 72,950 of the enemy being captured along with, the city of Arpad, where the Assyrian king received the homage of various Syrian princes. Arpad revolted soon afterwards, but after a siege' was taken in 740 B.C. The following year Azariahof judah appears among the enemies of Tiglath-Pileser, who had overthrown his Hamathite allies and annexed the nineteen districts of Hamath. The conquered populations were now transported to distant parts of the-empire, In 737 B.C. Tiglath-Pileser again marched into Media, and in 735 he invaded Ararat and wasted the country round the capital Van to a distance of 450 miles. In 734 B.C. he was called to the help of Yahu-khazi (Ahaz) of Judah, who had been attacked by Pekah of Israel and Rezon (Rasun) of Damascus. Rezon, defeated in battle, fled to his capital which was at once invested by the Assyrians, while with another portion of his army Tiglath-Pileser ravaged Syria and overran the kingdom of Samaria. Ammon, Moab, Edom and the queen of Sheba sent tribute, and Teima in northern Arabia was captured by the Assyrian troops. In 732 B.C. Damascus fell; Rezon was put to death, and an Assyrian satrap appointed in his stead. Tyre also was made tributary. The next year Tiglath-Pileser entered Babylonia, but it was not until 729 B.C. that the Chaldaean prince Ukin-zer (Chinzirus) was driven from Babylon and Tiglath-Pileser acknowledged as its legitimate ruler. In the early part of Tebet 727 B.C. he died, after having built two palaces, one at Nineveh, the other at Calah.
See P. Rest, Die Ketilschrifttexte Tiglat-Pilesers III. (1893); also Babylonia and Assyria § v. History (“Second Assyrian Empire” ); and authorities quoted in § viii. Chronology.
