Why Is Cyrus the Great Called the Father of Human Rights?

💡 The Answer

• The Cyrus Cylinder contains clauses that promise freedom of worship and restoration of displaced people.
• This document, from 539 BCE, predates the Magna Carta by nearly two millennia.
• Cyrus’s policies abolished forced labor and allowed ethnic groups to keep their identities.
• Modern scholars view it as a precursor to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
• The term 'father of human rights' was popularized by the Shah of Iran in the 20th century.