Justice Box (sanduq-i adalat); the Continuity of Tradition or the Facilitator of Modernity

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Assistant Professor of History, University of Tehran, Faculty of World Studies, Tehran, I. R. Iran.

Abstract

Purpose: The establishment of the so-called Justice Box (Persian =sanduq-i adalat) by Nasir al-Din Shah Qajar (1831 –1896) is discussed as an ingenious device in line with the Iranian tradition of a benevolent tyrant. The king’s concern for justice in the absence of a justice system led him revive the classic image of a just king for himself. The initiative meant that he personally was supposed to be in direct contact with his subjects and oversee the process of addressing disputes brought to the court.
Method and Research Design: Data for this study is gathered mainly from archival records reporting the establishment and performance of the Justice Box.
Findings and Conclusion: The king’s emphasis was to earn the symbolic image of a just king, thus enhancing his legitimacy. A secular court hence paved the way for later demand for a secular justice system that turned to be the main driving force of the 1906 Constitutional Revolution in Iran.

Keywords

Main Subjects


Resource English translation
 
Abrahamian, Ervand. (1974). “Oriental Despotism: The Case of Qajar Iran”. International Journal of Middle East Studies, 5(1): pp 3-31.
 
Adamiyat, Fereydun. (1356/1977). Afkār-e ’ejtemā’i va siyāsi va ’eqtesādi dar āsār-e montašer našode-ye do[w]rān-e Qājār (Social, political and economical thoughts in unpublished works in the Qājār period).Tehran: ’Entešārāt-e Āgāh.
 
Amin, Hasan. (1382/2004). “Nezām qazā’i-ye Irān az āqāz tā ’enqelāb-e mašrutiyat (Iranian judicial system from the beginning of the Qajar to Constitutional Revolution)”. Fasl-nāme-ye pažuheš-e Hoquq va siyāsat (Law & politics research journal). 9, pp. 29-72.
 
Bakhȃsh, Shȃul. (1978). Iran: Monarchy, Bureaucracy and Reform under the Qajar: 1858‑1898. London: Ithaca Press.
 
Curzon, George N. (1892). Persia and the Persian Question. (Vol.1). London: Longmans, Green and Co.
 
Damghani, Mohammad Taghi. (1357/1978). Sad sāl piš az in:moqaddame’i bar tārix-e hoquq-e jaded-e Irān (A hundred years ago: an introduction to history of the modern law of Iran). Tehran: Šabgir.
 
Dolat-e Alliye-ye Irān newspaper: 1281, no. 562.
Etemadossaltaneh, Mohammad Hassan Khan. (n.d.). Al-ma’āser va-al-āsār. s.l.: Ketābxāne-ye Sanā’i.
 
 
Etemadossaltaneh, Mohammad Hassan Khan. (1295 h.q./1878). Merāt-ol-boldān-e Nāseri. (vol. 3). Lithography. s.l.: s.n.
 
 
Etemadossaltaneh, Mohammad Hassan Khan. (1300/1921). Tārix-e montazam-e Nāseri (Naseri regular history). (vol. 3). Lithography. s.l.: s.n.
 
 
Ettehadieh (Nezam-Mafi), Mansoureh. (1989). “The council for the Investigation of grievances: A Case Study of Nineteenth Century Iranian Social History”. In Iranian Studies, 22(1): PP 51-56.
 
Floor, Willem. (1983). “Change and Development in the Judicial System of Qajar Iran (1800‑1925)”. In Qajar Iran: political, Social and Cultural Change 1800‑1925. edited by Clifford Edmund Bosworth and Carole Hillenbrand. Edinburgh University Press.
 
 
Floor, Willem; Banani, Amin. (1388/2009). Nezām-e qazā’i-ye asr-e Qājār va Pahlavi (Juridical systems of the Qājār and the Pahlavi period). Translated by Hasan Zandiye. Qom: Pažukegāh-e Hoze va Dānešgāh.
 
Hashemian, Mojgan. (1376/1997). “Divān-e mazālem va sandoq-e ’edālat dar asr-e Nāseri (Misdeed court and justice box in the Naseri period”. Tārix va farhang-e moā’ser. (23-24).
 
Hedayat, Haj Mehdi Gholi. (1363/1984). Xāterāt va xatarāt: tuše’i az tārix-e šeš pādešāh va guše’i az do[w]re-ye zendegi-ye man (memoirs and risks: a provision of history of six kings and a bit of my life). Tehran: Čāp-e Golšan.
 
Iran newspaper: Monday, 18 Ziqa’de 1291, no.240; Sunday, 15 Zihajje 1291, no. 243.
 
Kasravi, Ahmad. (1324/1945). Mašrute behtarin šekl-e hokumat va āxarin natije-ye andišeye nežād ādami ast (The constitutional government is the best form of government and the last result of human’s thought). Gathered by Mohammad Ali Paydar. s.l.: s.n.
 
Kia, Iraj. (1376/1997). Moruri bar tārix-e post-e Irān (A review of history of post of Iran). Tehran: ’Entešārāt-e Negin.
 
Modarres Tabatabaee, Hossein. (1353/1975). “ Nāme’i az Hāj Mollā Mohammad Sādeq Qomi be Nāser el-Din Šāh dar šekve- az mazālem-e ’ommal-e do[w]lat (A letter from Hāj Mollā Mohammad Sādeq Qomi to Nāser el-Din Šāh about the cruelty of the government agents)”. Vahid monthly journal. 126, pp. 211-219.
 
Mohit Tabatabaee, Mohammad. (1346/1967). “ Dād-gostari dar Irān az ’enqerāz-e Sāsāni tā ’ebtedā-ye mašrutiyat ( the local department of justice in Iran from the fall of the Sasanian until the beginning of constitutionality)”. Vahid monthly journal, 46.
 
Mostofi, Abdolah. (1343/1964). Šarh-e zendegāni-ye man ya tārix-e ’edāri va ’ejtemā’i-ye do[w]re-ye Qājār (My autobiography or official and social history of the Qājār period). (vol.1). Tehran: Čāp-e Zavār.
 
Nezam Alsaltane Mafi, Hossein Gholi. (1362/1989). Xāterāt va asnād-e Hoseyn Qoli Xān Nezām-ol-Saltane-ye Māfi (Hossein Gholi Nezam Alsaltane Mafi’s Memoirs and documents). (vol.1). Edited by Masoomeh Mafi, Mansooreh Etehadiye(Nezam Mafi), Sirous Saadvandian and Hamid Rampisheh. Tehran: Našr-e Tārix-e Irān.
 
Rohani, Alireza.(1383/2005). “Mafhum-šenāsi-ye ‘edālat-xāne’, ‘mašrute’, and ‘mašrute-ye mašru’e’( conceptualization of ‘edālat-xāne’, ‘constitutional’, and ‘constitutional in accordance with šari’a’)”. Māh-nāme-ye ma’refat (Ma’refat monthly journal). 86, pp. 89-97.
 
Safaee, Ebrahim. (1347/1968). “ Sandoq-e ’arāyez (The box of petitions)”. Negin, 30 Ābān 1347, no. 42, pp. 39-40.
 
Sāzmān-e Asnād va Ketābxāne-ye Melli-ye Irān (Sākmā) (National Library and Archives of Iran), doc. no.: 295/1789, 295/1868, 295/1929, 295/1946, 295/1971, 295/3602, 295/5135, 295/5139, 295/5140, 295/5169, 295/5303, 295/5341, 295/5342, 295/5373, 296/466.
 
Schneider, Irene. (2006). The Petitioning System in Iran: State, Society and Power Relations in the late 19th century. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.
 
Shohani, Siavash. (1389/2010). “ ’Arāyez; rahyāfti be tārix-e forudstān: Barresi-ye asnād-e ’arāyez-e majles-e šorāy-e melli (Petitions; an approach to the history of lower classes: a study on the petition records in the National Consultative Assembly)”. Ganjine-ye asnād. 79, pp. 42-79.
 
So, Alvin Y. (1990). Social Change and Development: Modernization, Dependency, and World-System Theories. London: Sage Publications.
 
Sohrabi, Nader. (1999). “Revolution and State Culture: The Circle of Justice and Constitutionalism in 19th Century Iran.” In State/ Culture: State-formation After the Cultural Turn. Edited by George Steinmetz. Ithaca, United States: Cornell University Press, PP 253‑288.
 
Talaee, Zahra. (1383/2005). “Barresi va mo’arefi-ye nosxe-ye xati (majmu’e-ye asnād): savād-e ketābče-ye šekāyat-hā va ’arz-e hāl-e sāl-e 1291-1292 Q (A survey and introducton of some manuscripts (records collection) of complaints and petitions booklet’s copy 1874-1875)”. Ganjine-ye asnād. 56, pp. 39-43.
Valizadeh Mojezi, Mohammad Reza. (1380/2001). Tārix-e Lorestān: Ruzegār-e Qājār: az ta’sis tā kudetā-ye 1299 Š (History of Lorestan: the Qājār period from the beginning till the coup 1920). (vol.1). Tehran: Horufiye.
 
Vaqāye’-e ’ettefāqiye: majmu’e-ye gozāreš-hā-ye xofiye-nevisan-e ’Englis dar velāyāt-e jonubi-ye Irān az sāl-e 1291 ta 1322 qamari (Vaqāye’-e ’ettefāqiye: a collection of the secret reports that were by English writers in southern Iran provinces from 1874 until 1904). (1362/1983). Edited by Ali Akbar Saeedi Sirjani. Tehran: ’Entešarāt-e Novin.
 
Vaqāye’-e ’ettefāqiye newspaper: Rabi’ol’avval 1291.
 
Varhram, Gholam Reza. (1385/2007). Nezām-e siyāsi va sāzmān-hā-ye ’ejtemā’i-ye Irān dar asr-e Qājār(Political system and social organizations of Iran during the Qājār period) . Tehran: Mo’in.
 
Weber, Max. (1978). Economy and Society: an outline of interpretive sociology. (Vol. 2). Berkley, Los Angeles and London: University of California Press.