WE are used to seeing Asians in Africa.
But we do not often imagine that there are Africans who have lived in Asia for centuries.
There is a diverse group of Afro-Asian communities living in many parts of Asia, speaking a variety of Asian languages.
The major questions are: Why is the African Diaspora going east hardly talked about?
When did this movement start?
How long has this migration gone on for?
What was the main origin of Africans who went to Asia?
Because there are not enough historical records about Africans in Asia, we have to piece together various documentations and archival records.
Afro-Asians had probably originated from Mozambique, Madagascar, Angola, Tanzania, Zanzibar and Ethiopia.
They followed the Portuguese, the Dutch, French and the British into the Indian Ocean trade.
According to the National Archives in the British Library, African slaves went to Asia as soldiers.
Others were engaged in long distance international maritime trade as sailors, soldiers and servants.
Some may have carried African ivory sought by Indian merchants from the East African coast to the ports of southern Arabia then to India.
Others went to Asia as slaves on the Portuguese ships that sailed to Macau and Nagasaki.
In India, many Africans worked as dockworkers, horse-keepers, domestic servants, agricultural workers, nurses, palanquin carriers and apprentices to blacksmiths and carpenters.
In 1851, the linguist, Sir Richard Burton noted how “up to 700 Bambasi, Habshi and Zangibari, were imported annually into neighbouring Baluchistan.
“Females were in greater demand and were priced at around 50 pounds, while children were bartered for grain, cloth and other goods”.     
Today there are Afro-Sri Lankan communities living inland from the northwestern coast of Sri Lanka.
Although the Africans adapted to their environment over the centuries, they kept many aspects of the African identity in their musical traditions and dance forms. They continued to speak their many African languages which got mixed with Asian languages.
The population of the Afro-Asians varies from one city to the other.
The perception of them varies.
It is estimated that Asians of African descent in India number over 60 000.
In India they are referred to as the Sidis.
Some Swahili words are found in the Sidi language.
It is estimated that 25 000 live in Gujarat, 25 000 in Karnataka and 10 000 in Andhra Pradesh and smaller numbers in Maharashtra, Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
Pakistan has the most people of African descent in South Asia.
In Pakistan, the Africans are known as Shidees and they live in Sindh and Karachi. At least a quarter of the total population of the Makran coast is of African ancestry. Estimates note that there are at least 250 000 Afro-Asian people living on the southern coast of Pakistan, which overlaps with southeastern Iran.
Beginning in 1650, Oman traded more heavily with the Lamu archipelago on the Swahili coast and transported Africans to the Makran coast.
Many Pakistani of African descent are called Makrani,
The prominent researcher, Shihan de Silva Jayasuriya, has worked extensively on the background of Africans in Asia.
He wrote a book titled, The African Diaspora in Asian Trade Routes and Cultural Memories.
De Silva Jayasuriya presents an in-depth comprehensive narrative of the global African Diaspora.
His research is concerned by the way Africans went to Asia and made it their home.
The book includes comparative case studies from Sumatra and Sri Lanka.
Based on East India Company records in the British Library in London and fieldwork in Sri Lanka, de Silva Jayasuriya uncovers a slave route from Madagascar to Sumatra and Java via India and Sri Lanka.
The slaves came from Mozambique, Madagascar and Angola.
He notes that Africans played a vital role as interpreters, musicians and messengers.
In the Arabian Peninsula and Gulf Coast region African musical and dance traditions continued in the form of spirit possession performances.
In India the Siddis history is well documented because they rose to high positions as military commanders.
These Africans were employed in specialised jobs as soldiers, palace guards or personal bodyguards.
The Mughals, a Muslim imperial power in northern India from the early 16th century through the early 19th, relied on African soldiers and sailors.
In 1572, when the Mughal Emperor Akbar entered Gujarat, he was reportedly protected by 700 armed Habshi on horseback.
African soldiers and sailors also received annual payment for defending Mughal subjects from piracy at sea and attacks on land.
Some of them were known for their equestrian skills and ability to tame wild horses while serving in the cavalry.
Oral history recounted by Afro-Gujaratis mention how their ancestors also served as bodyguards in the palaces of Hindu kings.
Among their functions, was to taste the Maharajah’s food to protect against attempted poisoning.
The Moroccan explorer Ibn Battuta recorded that during his stay in India from 1333 to 1343 the governor of Allahpur, north of Delhi was an African named Badr, who had risen from being a slave to take a powerful position.
Unlike the European slavery where enslaved Africans were forced to be slaves forever, slavery in India had room for a slave to move in the hierarchy.
Ibn Battuta also wrote about the bravery of Habshi soldiers and sailors in the mid-14th century.
Battuta travelled with 50 Abyssinians on a ship to protect against pirate attacks.
He called them ‘the guarantors of safety on the Indian Ocean’.
While boarding a Chinese junk at Calicut in south India, he observed Abyssinians carrying javelins and swords and others with drums and bugles.
As de Silva Jayasuriya has noted, “Eastwards migration in the Indian Ocean region and beyond, has gone on for longer than the westward migration across the Atlantic and the geographical spread is wide.
“Africans moved eastwards over land and by sea.
“Although scholarship on the eastwards Diaspora has increased over the last decade or so, there are still many roots and routes to uncover.”
These Africans ended up in Asia as a result of a continuous movement from Africa over centuries.
When we look east, we should also look for our brothers and sisters over there.