Ignatius Sancho was born in 1729 on a slave ship crossing from the Guinea coast to the Spanish West Indies, and was brought to England as a toddler. He was given to three sisters who treated him harshly, but after he escaped at twenty he became a butler in the household of the Duke of Montagu, who encouraged his reading. Sancho became a respected figure in London's literary and artistic circles, was painted by Thomas Gainsborough, and corresponded with the novelist Laurence Sterne. His letters were published after his death in 1780 and became an immediate bestseller. He is recognised as the first known Black Briton to vote in a British election and the first person of African descent known to receive an obituary in the British press.

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.