PFH1168048: Nigeria: N'oba N'edo Uku Akpolokpolo Akenzua II, Oba of Benin (1933-1978). / Bridgeman Images

PFH1168210: China: Rooftops of old Aksu, Xinjiang, 1911 / Bridgeman Images

PFH1168243: China: 'Precious and Auspicious' horse Baoji presented to the Qianlong Emperor by the Torghut Mongols, painted by Ai Qimeng in 1773. / Bridgeman Images

PFH1167670: Thailand: Thammalangka, Chao (King) of Chiang Mai, 1813-1821. Second lord of the Chao Chet Ton Dynasty. / Bridgeman Images

PFH1168767: Laos: The Pak Ou Cave in Upper Laos, illustrated in 1867 by French expeditioner Louis Delaporte. / Bridgeman Images

PFH1167404: Vietnam: Honour guard on parade outside Norodom Palace, Saigon (1925) / Bridgeman Images

PFH1166228: Laos: Choummaly Sayasone, President of the Lao People's Democratic Republic and General Secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, 2006-present. / Bridgeman Images

PFH1165115: Cambodia: Son Ngoc Thanh Son Ngoc Thanh (1908-1977) was a Cambodian nationalist and republican politician. / Bridgeman Images

PFH1165256: Indonesia: The Lingga Archipelago or Kepulauan Lingga off the east coast of Sumatra. Watercolour by the German scientist and traveller Ernst Haeckel, c.1882. / Bridgeman Images

PFH1165487: China: Two beggars in Shanghai, c.1928 / Bridgeman Images

PFH1166515: India: A Dancing Girl / Bayadere (1843). / Bridgeman Images

PFH1169764: Vietnam: A Gold lang coin of Thieu Tri, third emperor of the Nguyen Dynasty (r.1840-1847). / Bridgeman Images

PFH1166351: India: Detail of a Bodhisattva, Ajanta Caves. / Bridgeman Images

PFH1166471: Cambodia: ethnic Stieng villagers line up for a photograph in the Srepok region of Cambodia in 1920. / Bridgeman Images

PFH1169259: Thailand: King Rama II, Buddha Loetla Nabhalai (24 February 1767 - 21 July 1824), 2nd monarch of the Chakri Dynasty. / Bridgeman Images

PFH1166519: Russia: A Kamchatkan Aleut / Eleuthe (1843). / Bridgeman Images

PFH1166621: China: Ruang Lingyu (1910 - 1935), Film Icon of Old Shanghai. / Bridgeman Images

PFH1168281: Japan: Mongols and Japanese engaged in warfare; scene from the Moko Shurai Ekotoba (c.1293). / Bridgeman Images

PFH1166170: China: Yulbars Khan, Uighur Military leader at Kumul (Hami), Xinjiang, c. 1932. / Bridgeman Images

PFH1168288: Japan: Mongols and Japanese engaged in warfare; scene from the Moko Shurai Ekotoba (c.1293). / Bridgeman Images

PFH1167757: China: Emperor Zhengde, 11th ruler of the Ming Dynasty (r. 1505-1521). / Bridgeman Images

PFH1168280: Japan: Mongols and Japanese engaged in warfare; scene from the Moko Shurai Ekotoba (c.1293). / Bridgeman Images

PFH1165266: Sri Lanka: Flag of the Kingdom of Jaffna (Kingdom of Aryacakravarti, 1215-1619). / Bridgeman Images

PFH1166605: Iran/ Iraq: An illustration from a Persian monograph on chess. / Bridgeman Images

PFH1168741: China: The village of Ban Koue in Yunnan Province, redrawn from an 1868 sketch by French expeditioner Louis Delaporte. / Bridgeman Images

PFH1168879: China: Empress Xiaoduanxian (died 1620), consort of the 14th Ming Emperor Wanli (r. 1572-1620). / Bridgeman Images

PFH1166768: France/ Turkey: Ottoman ambassador Mehmet Efendi presents his credentials to King Louis XV at Versailles in 1721. French Foreign Minister Guillaume Dubois is depicted standing on the left. / Bridgeman Images

PFH1168772: China: A military inspection in Suijiang in northeastern Yunnan province, as illustrated by French expeditioner Louis Delaporte in 1868. / Bridgeman Images

PFH1168553: Japan: Sei Shonagon (c. 966-1017) Japanese author and court lady of the middle Heian Era, best known as the author of The Pillow Book 'Makura no Soshi' / Bridgeman Images

PFH1168939: Burma/ Myanmar: An 1867 drawing by French expeditioner Louis Delaporte showing the explorers' overnight camp site on the banks of a ravine off the Mekong River in Shan State. / Bridgeman Images

PFH1168993: Laos: The mouth of the Se Ngam River on the Mekong in southern Laos, near the Siamese border town of Nong Khai, redrawn from an 1867 sketch by French expeditioner Louis Delaporte. / Bridgeman Images

PFH1168763: Cambodia: Khmer villagers in pirogues on the Kong River, which forms the mouth to the Mekong, c. 1867. / Bridgeman Images

PFH1168973: Indochina: An 1867 sketch of a date palm (Caryota urens), probably in central Laos, by French expeditioner Louis Delaporte. / Bridgeman Images

PFH1166756: Singapore: The Singapore Stone / Bridgeman Images

PFH1167276: China: Bridge across the Wenxian He, Ganxu, c. 1900. / Bridgeman Images

PFH1165116: Cambodia: Keo Meas (1926 - 1976, centre) was a Cambodian communist politician and a leading figure within the United Issarak Front. / Bridgeman Images