General Paolo Avitabile

Paolo Crescenzo Martino Avitabile (1791 to 1850) was a soldier from the Kingdom of Naples who served Maharaja Ranjit Singh's Sarkar-i-Khalsa for about sixteen years. He is known for two postings: Wazirabad, which prospered under him, and Peshawar, which he governed with a harshness still remembered there. He was one of the few Europeans at the Sikh court given civil appointments.

He was born on 25 October 1791 at Agerola near Naples. He served in the local militia from 1807 and then in Napoleon's army, resigned in 1817, and in 1820 reached Persia, where he joined the Shah's army and rose to colonel before leaving in 1824. After a short visit to Italy he joined the French adventurer Claude Auguste Court and reached Lahore in early 1827.

Key moments

• 1827: enters Ranjit Singh's service as a gunner and gun-maker, placed over the arsenal and foundries.
• 1829: made administrator of Wazirabad, which the Encyclopaedia of Sikhism says he improved and kept very clean.
• 1834 to 1837: sent to Peshawar, and after Hari Singh Nalwa fell at Jamrud in 1837 he became governor. Dawn gives his governorship as 1837 to 1843.
• His rule: the Encyclopaedia describes it as one of "gallows and gibbets", with summary punishments, collective fines and reprisals against the Afghan tribes. Dawn adds that British sources claim public hangings with the bodies left on display for days, and that he built a three-storey mansion on the site of Gor Khatri as his residence. Dawn notes he was also known as Abu Tabela.
• During the First Anglo-Afghan War, Wikipedia says, he helped the British with their passage through the Khyber.
• 1843: leaves Sikh service. The Encyclopaedia records his resignation on 17 July 1843, and he sailed from Calcutta on 15 December 1843, landing at Naples on 18 February 1844, where his rank of general was confirmed and he was made a knight.
• 28 March 1850: dies at Agerola.

Remembered for: the stern order he kept on the frontier city won in 1834, and as a sign of how Ranjit Singh drew on foreign officers, honouring Avitabile with titles such as Dilawar Jang Bahadur and Amin ud-Daula, while relying on harsh methods to hold Peshawar.