Yogis and ascetics across South Asia once travelled freely, practising yoga and martial arts, and some formed armed bands. Between the 15th and 18th centuries, organised ascetic militias controlled many trade routes in northern India and hired out as mercenary armies to moguls, rajahs and landowners. Rival Vaishnav and Shaivite groups fought each other violently, and in the 18th century those battles killed thousands. When the British East India Company expanded its power, it treated all wandering holy men as one stereotype. In 1773 a ban made it an offence to wander naked or carry a weapon in British-controlled Bengal, and many ascetics were effectively criminalised. Their clashes with the Company's army inspired the novel Anandamath, whose song Vande Mataram became a national song of India. Over time, many former warriors turned to showmanship, begging or pilgrimage and priestly service.

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.