After centuries of neglect, Africa began an academic engagement in its own past in the twentieth century, characterised by a multi-disciplinary approach. The result is that Africa is now centrally placed within the narrative of human evolution. Its ancient connections with Europe and its historic links with the Americas are better understood. However, Africa’s ancient connections with Asia remain relatively unexplored. This presentation covers twenty years of investigation on Africans in Asia encompassing the process of decolonising Asian attitudes towards evidences, collections, histories and cultural legacies. Three examples will be covered; one on a built structure in Qatar, a historical migration connecting India and Kenya and one on Africans in Southeast Asia during World War II. The emerging result unsurprisingly places Africa, not at the periphery but at the centre of global historical interactions and demonstrates that Asia itself has impacted modern African history.