Sonic Crimes

This article argues that the sonic constitutes a neglected vector for understanding crime and policing in 19th-century Iranian cities. It engages theoretically with anthropologists, geographers, historians, and sound studies scholars to chart the relationship between space, time, and sound. After providing historical background on the Qajar Iranian state (1785–1925) and the sonic order it embodied, the essay explores how Shi‘i acoustic jurisprudence, mirrors for princes, and works of Islamic ethics categorized licit and illicit sound, including noise. Next, it explores earwitness testimonies found in newspapers, reports, and diaries to examine the everyday policing of sonic crimes, which included noise disturbances, drunk and disorderly conduct, and music as vice. Sonic regulation usually targeted marginalized individuals such as male and female prostitutes, ruffians (lutis), non-Muslim musicians, and others deemed to be disreputable. This article further maps out what sounds were considered licit and illicit, by whom, and to what ends. It argues that noise was not just “sound out of place” but also “out of time,” according to those in authority. Temporal and religious authorities upheld order through sound: For the Qajar state, this could include the kettledrum ensembles that performed daily, while for the ‘ulama, this was expressed through Quranic recitation and the call to prayer. Sounds that challenged, disrupted, or competed with these sonic orders were categorized as disorderly, noisy, and possibly rebellious. Silence also connoted order and the absence of crime and rebellion. Policing, whether governmental or moral, involved silencing noisemakers through force or persuasion.