Africans travelled (both voluntary and forced) in the Indian Ocean world for more than a millennium before the advent of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. This course is a general introduction to the history of African migration in the Indian Ocean region from antiquity to the early modern period. It proceeds in three parts, mainly through the method of the ‘foundational thematic question’ that structures each day’s readings. In part one, we examine the definitional issues of terms like diaspora, ethnicity and race, as well as Toni Morrison’s concept of Africanism. In part two, we apply Africanism to a variety of texts and contexts from antiquity to the medieval period. In part three, we examine the biography of the Oromo slave-turned-ruler Malik Ambar and the African presence in South Asia. The course argues that anti-black racism is a world historical phenomenon related to the rise and fall of empires in Africa, Near Eastern mythology (the story of Ham), notable historical events (the Muslim migration to Abyssinia, the Zanj rebellion). Throughout Africans have exercised a notable and unappreciated influence on Asian societies.