Manichaeans

Although most of the literature/scripture of the Manichaeans was believed lost, the discovery of an original series of documents have helped to shed new light on the subject.

Augustine of Hippo, Against Two Letters of the Pelagians 1.31–32 Augustine had served as a "Hearer" for the Manichaeans for about nine years, Brown, Peter.

During the Song Dynasty, the Manichaeans were derogatorily referred by the Chinese as chicai simo (meaning that they "abstain from meat and worship demons").

Henning describes how this translation process evolved and influenced the Manichaeans of Central Asia: Beyond doubt, Sogdian was the national language of the Majority of clerics and propagandists of the Manichaean faith in Central Asia.

However, these groups left few records, and the link between them and Manichaeans is tenuous.

In 381 Christians requested Theodosius I to strip Manichaeans of their civil rights.

In AD 296, the Roman emperor Diocletian decreed all the Manichaean leaders to be burnt alive along with the Manichaean scriptures and many Manichaeans in Europe and North Africa were killed.

It was transmitted to China in the 8th century by Manichaeans, via the country of Kang (a Central Asian polity near Samarkand ).

Many Manichaeans took part in rebellions against the Song government and were eventually quelled.

The Gospel of Thomas was also attributed to Manichaeans by the early Church Fathers.

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.