Kaspar Hauser appeared in Nuremberg in 1828 claiming he had been held in a dark cell for most of his life, and he became one of the most famous mysteries of the 19th century. Rumours spread that he was a royal heir, but most modern historians think he was mentally ill, possibly a hoaxer. The schoolmaster Friedrich Daumer encouraged him to draw and paint as a way of civilising him. His surviving works range from pen-and-ink self-portraits to precise watercolour studies of fruit and flowers. He was stabbed and died in 1833, and the wound's cause was never settled.

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.