African Identity in Asia

In contrast to the dispersion of slaves across the Atlantic, African movement to Asia has received scant attention. However, Britain's commemoration in 2007 of the bicentennial of its abolishing the trans-Atlantic slave trade has now stimulated interest in other African migrations. In a book that encompasses the strong military impact made by even first-generation African migrants in Asia, as well as the descendants of the royal Africans who governed Sachin and Janjira (India), Shihan de Silva Jayasuriya further demonstrates that African music and dance have not only survived the brutalities of forced migration but have also contributed to the local Middle Eastern and South Asian arts scene. Combining historical accounts, both documented and oral, this groundbreaking work explores - through case studies, and through the processes of assimilation, social mobility, and marginalization - the silent history and conflicting identity of Asia's Africans.