the Bengal Engineers, was appointed to tho- roughly repair this great monument, and spent seventeen thousand rupees in doing so, part of which sum was wasted in making the top ornament ; some five thousand rupees, in addition, were spent in the repair of the mosque and surrounding buildings. The work was well done, for an earthquake occurred in 1829, soon after the repairs were completed, but did no damage ; the tower also successfully withstood the earthquake of 1905.
The top ornament, as designed by Major Smith, from the report of the villagers as to the original form, was an extraordinary structure. What remains of it is not so bad, but he put over the flat roof of the red sandstone pavilion a false dome of wood, and, surmounting this, a flagstaff, intended to fly the flag of the King of Delhi. This detail at once attracted the notice of the Governor-General, Lord William Bentinck, and he directed the wooden part to be taken down. The octagonal stone pavilion was removed, by the orders of Lord Hardinge, in 1848 ; it is understood that the Delhi jewellers had fashioned salt and pepper cruets in the shape of the restored minar, and had thus brought the open pavilion into some ridicule.
A great deal has been written in speculation
