Who is Tippoo Sultan from Sharpe's Tiger and what is their importance?

Tippoo is the king of Mysore and another of Sharpe's antagonists. Tippoo orders Sharpe to shoot McCandless, but Sharpe knows that the gunpowder is actually dry ink powder. From this and Tippoo's behavior in an earlier fight that cost many of his soldiers, he is a cruel man who thinks little of his subjects and absolutely nothing of his enemies. Tippoo enjoys feeding criminals and prisoners to a set of six large tigers, which demonstrates his sadistic nature. He does have a few good qualities, being a fairly good leader and at least considering the advice from others. However, he is still a primary villain in the story and dies in the end by Sharpe's hand.