Human Rights refer to the concept of human beings as having universal rights, or status, regardless of legal jurisdiction or other localizing factors, such as ethnicity and nationality, as is evident in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, at least in the post world war period, are conceptualized as based on inherent human dignity, retaining their universal and inalienable character.

The existence, validity and the content of human rights continue to be the subject of debate in philosophy and Political Science. Legally, human rights are defined in International law and Covenants, and in the domestic laws of many states. However, the doctrine of human rights goes beyond law and forms a fundamental moral basis for regulating the contemporary global order and within the legal arena, Human Rights  have gained Universal acceptance by the Criterion set to classify a norm as binding.

History informs us that there were many instances of recognition of basic human rights in many National Jurisdictions and International transactions which have inspired and shaped the modern Human Rights law.
Evolution of the Basic Human RIghts inscribed in different religious texts and scriptures globally.

Here are the lists of Evidences in Ancient History:

1. Cyrus Cylinder
2. Code of Hammurabi 1780 BC
3. Edicts of Asoka -269 BCE to 232 BCE
4. Thirukural, BC 50

 

1. Cyrus Cylinder: In 539 B.C, the armies of Cyrus the Great, the first king of ancient Persia conquered the city of Babylon. He freed the slaves, declared that all people had the right to choose their own religion and established racial equality. These decrees were recorded on a baked cylinder in the Akkadian language with cuneiform script. Known today as the Cyrus Cylinder, this ancient record has now been recognized as the world’s first charter of human rights.
    
2. Code of Hammurabi 1780 BC: Code of Hammurabi is one of the oldest deciphered legal writings of significant length in the world that may be considered barbarous. This code deals with the matters of contracts, conditions for valid transactions and issues relating to household and family relationships. This code of Hammurabi gives a lot of importance to persons and property as an effort to respect human interest.
    
3. Edicts of Asoka -269 BCE to 232 BCE: The Edicts of Asoka describe the treatment of prisoners, right behaviour, kindness to animals and other living things. These edicts directly reflect modern human rights thinking, It is my desire that there should be uniformity in law and uniformity in sentencing. These edicts are present in modern-day India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, which were ruled by Asoka to spread the message across his kingdom.
    
4. Thirukural, BC 50: Thirukural assumes importance amongst other human rights historical documents in the context of its establishment of uniformity amongst all Tamil nations of those times. It lays down secular philosophy for the respect of human rights during the times of religion-based legal systems across the world. Thirukural deals with many facets of governance, personal rights and the right to dignity of individuals and communities. In one such couplet, it states Let the king, who desires that his prosperity may long remain, commence his preliminary inquiries with strictness, and then punish with mildness.

To Conclude that apart from these historical instances , there were many Philosophical traditions framed by many Western Philosophers such as John Locke, Thomas Paine etc. The basic equal Protection of the Human Rights has been strictly inscribed in all the religions such as in Hinduism( Vedas, Agamas, Upanishads, dharma, Ahimsa),Judaism(Isiaah 58:6-7),Buddhism(Compassion, Respect, Charity, Universal brotherhood, Equality),Confucianism(Analects, Doctrine of the Mean and Great Learning),Christianity(Gal.:28),Islam(Justice, Sanctity of Life, Freedom, Mercy, compassion, respect).Hence Human Rights protects the basic values and morals of the common people who respects and follows the natural Justice in their day to day life.
 
Written By: A.J.E.SHINY