Miriam Makeba, born in Johannesburg in 1932, was a singer and civil rights activist nicknamed Mama Africa. Her role in the anti-apartheid film Come Back, Africa in 1959 brought her international attention, and she built her career in New York, where she recorded her first solo album in 1960. When she tried to return for her mother's funeral that year, the South African government prevented it. She later testified against the government at the United Nations, and after her marriage to Stokely Carmichael in 1968 her US visa was revoked, so she moved to Guinea. Her hit 'Pata Pata' helped bring African music to Western audiences, and her songs made her a symbol of opposition to apartheid. She returned to South Africa after apartheid ended in 1990.

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.