Before D.W. Griffith made The Birth of a Nation, the Kinemacolor Company of America tried to film a version of Thomas Dixon's novel The Clansman in 1911. That production was filmed in the southern United States and directed by William F. Haddock, but it failed amid legal questions over the story's rights, money troubles, a troubled colour process and poor direction. The scriptwriter Frank E. Woods showed his work to Griffith, who decided to make his own adaptation. Griffith could only afford a $2,500 option, so he offered Dixon 25 percent of the picture instead, a deal that later made Dixon rich. Griffith filmed from July 1914 and shot roughly 150,000 feet of footage before cutting it to about 13,000 feet, just over three hours. The film, widely considered a landmark of cinema, was also deeply racist, and several scenes were removed under pressure from New York's mayor before release.

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.