Paolo Avitabile - in Punjab

In Punjab

Together with Court, Avitabile arrived in Lahore in 1827 and was hired by the Maharaja Ranjit Singh. While Court was given a position with the artillery, Avitabile was given a civilian position as governor of Wazirabad. It would seem he was an able administrator, as he held the position for the next seven years. He governed the city with a firm - at times, cruel - hand and managed to impose order and discipline. As a result, Wazirabad prospered.

In 1834 he was appointed governor of Peshawar, an area the Maharaja had conquered from the Afghans the previous year.

His rule of Wazirabad is described as just and rigorous, and his governorship of Peshawar as a rule of "gallows and gibbets".

With a ruthless, at times brutal, style of government, Avitabile established order in the province where he became known as Abu Tabela. Summary executions became usual, and it is said that he would have people executed by throwing them from the top of Mahabat Khan's mosque. While this brutality was shocking to visiting Europeans (in the words of Sir Henry Lawrence: he acts like a savage among savage men, instead of showing them that a Christian can wield the iron sceptre without staining it by needless cruelty), it proved both successful in maintaining order and even popular among the peaceful inhabitants.

His iron fist rule over Peshawar has made a place for him in local folklore. Even today unruly children in the city are brought to control by invoking Abu Tabela's name. In times of unrest, law-abiding citizens send a small wish for the return of an Abu Tabela to finally re-impose law and order.

As governor of Peshawar, Avitabile controlled the southern entrance to the Khyber Pass. The control of this strategic position, brought him in contact with the British army during the First Anglo-Afghan War (1839–42), where he was able to render vital assistance. During Elphinstone's advance in 1839, the British were well received in Peshawar and their officers received a princely treatment. Captain Havelock spent a month in Peshawar, and describes the splendour of Avitabile's court in his memoirs. He also gives a favourable characterization of the governor: "He is, moreover, a frank, gay, and good-humoured person, as well as an excellent and skillful officer."

Avitabile was also a scholar and an engineer, who worked very closely with the most brilliant Sikh engineer Lehna Singh Majithia.

When the British returned in 1842, to avenge the defeat of Elphinstone, they were given every possible assistance by Avitabile's government. In addition to supplies and transportation, he also personally advanced large sums of money to the British campaign treasury. By lending the British as much as ten lakhs (1 million) of rupees, he not only helped them paying their troops. He also managed to transfer a considerable fortune to safety in Europe.

Avitabile remained in the position of Governor during the First Anglo-Afghan War until he left in 1843. Having secured his retirement in Europe, he resigned his position to return home.