Mani the syncretic incarnation
Mani’s (216-276/77) parents were members of the Jewish Christian Gnostic sect known as the Elcesaites.
Mani believed that the teachings of Gautama Buddha, Zoroaster, and Jesus were incomplete, and that his revelations were for the entire world, calling his teachings the “Religion of Light”. Manichaean tradition is also noted to have claimed that Mani was the reincarnation of different religious figures such as Buddha, Krishna, Zoroaster, and Jesus.
Other than incorporating the symbols and doctrine of dominant religious traditions, Manichaeism also incorporated the symbols and deities of indigenous traditions, in particular the Hindu deity Ganesha into its fold. When they moved eastward and were translated into Iranian languages, the names of the Manichaean deities (or angels) were often transformed into the names of Zoroastrian yazatas.
Dualism
Manichaeism taught an elaborate dualistic cosmology describing the struggle between a good, spiritual world of light, and an evil, material world of darkness. A key belief in Manichaeism is that the powerful, though not omnipotent good power (God), was opposed by the eternal evil power (devil). Humanity, the world and the soul are seen as the byproduct of the battle between God’s proxy, Primal Man, and the devil. The human person is seen as a battleground for these powers: the soul defines the person, but it is under the influence of both light and dark. This contention plays out over the world as well as the human body—neither the Earth nor the flesh were seen as intrinsically evil, but rather possessed portions of both light and dark.
Manichaeism presented an elaborate description of the conflict between the spiritual world of light and the material world of darkness.
Spread and suppression
Manichaeism spread with extraordinary speed through both the East and West. It reached Rome through the apostle Psattiq by 280, who was also in Egypt in 244 and 251. It was flourishing in the Faiyum in 290.
In 291, persecution arose in the Sasanian Empire with the murder of the apostle Sisin by Emperor Bahram II, and the slaughter of many Manichaeans. Roman emperor Theodosius I had issued a decree of death for all Manichaean monks in 382 and shortly before he declared Christianity to be the only legitimate religion for the Roman Empire in 391.
Uyghur khagan Boku Tekin (759–780) converted to the religion in 763 after a 3 days discussion with its preachers, the Babylonian headquarters sent high rank clerics to Uyghur, and Manichaeism remained the state religion for about a century before the collapse of the Uyghur Khaganate in 840.
During the early Abbasid period, the Manichaeans underwent persecution. The third Abbasid caliph, al-Mahdi, persecuted the Manichaeans, establishing an inquisition against dualists who if being found guilty of heresy refused to renounce their beliefs, were executed. Their persecution was finally ended in 780s by Harun al-Rashid. During the reign of the Caliph al-Muqtadir, many Manichaeans fled from Mesopotamia to Khorasan from fear of persecution and the base of the religion was later shifted to Samarkand.
After the Tang Dynasty, some Manichaen groups participated in peasant movements. The religion was used by many rebel leaders to mobilise followers. In the Song and Yuan dynasties of China remnants of Manichaeism continued to leave a legacy contributing to sects such as the Red Turbans. During the Song Dynasty, the Manichaeans were derogatorily referred by the Chinese as chicai simo (meaning that they “abstain from meat and worship demons”). … An account in Fozu Tongji, an important historiography of Buddhism in China compiled by Buddhist scholars during 1258-1269, says that the Manichaens worshipped the “white Buddha” and their leader wore a violet headgear, while the followers wore white costumes. Many Manichaeans took part in rebellions against the Song government and were eventually quelled. After that, all governments were suppressive against Manichaeism and its followers and the religion was banned by the Ming Dynasty in 1370. … Its core teaching influences many religious sects in China, including the White Lotus movement.