1. Early African Presence in Asia
1. Archeological evidence
2. Agricultural evidence
3. Geographical evidence
4. Early Migrations
1. Millions of years ago
2. 500,000 years ago
3. 50,000 years ago
5. Early Trade
6. Early influence on Asian Societies
7. Audio-visual examples
1. The African Presence in Asia (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MT3WdW79qvA)
2. African Presence in Early Asia (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iso3gu-D2wU)
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afro-Asians_in_South_Asia
2. The Slave Trade to Asia and the Middle East and the Arabian Peninsula
1. Co-mingled with free trade
2. Impact on Asian Societies
1. Political
2. Social
3. Economic
4. Cultural
3. Religion
4. Music
1. Political
2. Religious
3. Cultural
5. Examples (Audio-visual)
1. dila teer bija (http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x26tl0n)
2. http://historypak.com/makrani-culture/
3. Ali, S., Valentine, P etal (2011) Hidden Colors: The Untold History of People of Aboriginal, Moor and African Descent (DVD)
3. Current locations of African populations in Asia
1. India
2. China
3. Southeast Asia
4. Cross Cultural Influence
5. Audiovisual examples
1. http://themaldives.net/culture/music/bodu-beru.html
2. Dhe Kanbili - Faruma boduberu group (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqZc7cQeBIc)
4. Background information on Africa and the African presence in Asia
1. All Around the African World Museum www.Africanworldmuseum.com
2. Organization on the African Diasporas
3. Museum of the African Diaspora https://www.moadsf.org/
4. World African Diaspora Union
5. Site Visit to All Around the African World Museum gallery of the African Presence in Asia
6. Museum Visit Summary
7. Summary Document

NOTES: The African origin in early Asia is in three parts. The first speaks of African Antiquity. This covers the First Migration of Africa. Skeletal remains, artifacts, archeological resources, agriculture, oral history and language analysis, trading and now supported/verified by genetics.

The second involves the Cultural, social, political, economics, culture including religion (spirituality) and music during periods of free and slave migration from Africa to Asia. Music has had a tremendous impact on Asian populations and music It’s influence dominates this section.

The Third section is to show students resources to study this phenomenon and its impact on the African Diaspora in Asia and elsewhere.

Most of the research concerns the role of African in Asia due to the slave trade. Without the reference to slavery Runoki Rashidi in “Africans in Early Asian Civilizations: A Historical Overview” relate that the African presence in early Asia began more than 500,000 years in the first major though archeological evidence show there was migration from Africa to Asia millions of years ago. A second wave comes from 50,000 years ago by “diminutive blacks who traveled from one corner of Asia to another” (Rashidi). He discusses the arrival in Asia with blacks “slightly larger bodily proportions and further distinguished by straight to wavy hair textures. Variously called Austrics, Austro-Asiatics, Mons, Mundas, Kolarians and Veddas, these blacks were probably at their zenith 25, 000 years and are still prevalent in large numbers throughout Asia.

The blacks were also the first in the development of Asia’s early civilizations” (Rashidi). Gwynn Campbell follows up with this point with the following statements “it is certain that in the Asian world a significant free African migration occurred both prior and coterminous with the slave trade”. She also discusses African and Asian contacts from 4-7 million years ago through archeological research and supports Rashidi’s timeline of migration to Asia between 40,000 – 50,000 years ago. Since the 6th century AD Ethiopians from Aksum were sailing and establishing outposts as far east as Sri Lanka. Islamic populations were also involved in these migrations.

There is ample research of these early efforts in establishing and maintaining contacts as well as residence in Asian lands. Audio visual resources demonstrate this as well as an article with pictorial evidence of the African Presence in Early Asia. The All around the African World Museum also depicts such evidence with pictorial displays of the people of India as well as the ruins of two Pakistani cities Harappa and Mohenjo-daro. Karmwar also has dates that place early African excursions, trade and settlement in India thousands of years ago.

Gwynn concentrates on Blacks that came to Asia as part of the slave trade. Trade in African slaves comingled with free migration to Asia starting in the last millennia BC and continued well into the 20th Century and according to Campbell and expresses the view that they were” for centuries the most oppressed and exploited element in Society” (Campbell). Similar situations were the fate of the Dalit in India, commonly called ‘the untouchables” of whom a high percentage are black.

One evidence of the cultural contributions of Africans to Asians is in the cultural area of Music where it is used for marriage ceremonies, the worship of African deities, entertainment, sacred events, politics, expressions of love, and understanding. Many ceremonies as well as rituals use African instruments and music forms. The Pakistani national movement national anthem is in a song with African Roots. This music form is mentioned in the article “African Migrants as Cultural.

Brokers in South Asia” (Campbell). Several music forms predominate. Jayasuriya states “Chanting, controlled breathing and rhythmic bodily movements leading to a trance and spirit possession were common practice in East African Coastal towns and even on the dhows on which the slaves were taken to be sold “. Musical traditions are one indicator of the African presence in Asia. She goes on to explain certain musical traditions that currently exist in Asia with African Roots. One of these is The Bjia Teer; ”The musical anthem of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party, Bija Teer, is a Balochi song in the musical style of the Sheedis with Black African style rhythm and drums” (Wikipedia). The Balochi’s are of African origin and have “retained their musical heritage because it has been an important tool for liberating themselves from the daily hardship of discrimination and marginalized life and a mechanism for expressing rage and suffering” (Jayasuriya).

Other contributions to the Asian continent include freed African slaves occupying prominent positions (Jayasuriya). In India they played a vital role in the socio-political and economic life of several dynasties, including military and administrative services (Karmwar). Other areas of African contributions use of domestic grains from Africa (Karmwar) A group of transplanted Africans called Siddis from Gujarat trace the roots of their patron saint; Gori Pir as an Abyssinian from in Africa (Karmwar). Black Mongols in China, Dravidians in India, Black dynasties in China and Alexander Pushkin ‘Russia’s greatest poet was Black complement the African Experience in Asia.