Malcolm X, born Malcolm Little in 1925, was an African American civil rights leader and Muslim minister. He joined the Nation of Islam while serving a prison sentence for larceny and burglary and became its most influential spokesman after his parole in 1952. He criticised Martin Luther King Jr. and the mainstream movement's emphasis on nonviolence and integration. After a pilgrimage to Mecca in 1964 he embraced Sunni Islam, left the Nation, and founded new organisations. He was assassinated in New York City on 21 February 1965. Three Nation of Islam members were convicted, and two of those convictions were vacated in 2021. His ideas strongly influenced the Black power movement, and his autobiography, written with Alex Haley, was published posthumously.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.