Differences between Stories about Mani's Life in Shahname and those of Historical Researches

Mani was born in Mesopotamia towards the end of the Parthian empire. When he was 12 an angel descended to him and ordered him to publicize his religion. At first Mani called his father and his relatives to his new religion but could not get man followers among local peaple. After that he traveled to central Asian countries. During these travels he became familiar with Buddhism and later he blended his religion with Zoroastrian Christian and Buddhist ideas. Then he returned to Iran and went to the Sasanide Imperial court as a doctor. He became one of the attendants of Shapur the first. During the kingdom of Shapur he propagated Manichaeism freely and easily but after Shapur’s death he faced many oppositions and finally he was killed by the opponents who had influence in Bahram’s court. The narration of Mani’s appearance and his entering the Sasanian court comes in the historical part of Shahname. But it has many differences from historical researches. In this article we show all the similarities and differences of Ferdowsi’s narration and the real historical studies.