Eugène-François Vidocq (1775 to 1857) was a French criminal who became one of the founders of modern detective work. According to his memoirs, he escaped from more than twenty prisons and all the galleys of France, sometimes in disguise, including as a nun. In 1809 he turned himself in and became an informant, feeding information from fellow inmates to the authorities. The authorities later helped him stage an escape, and in 1812 he was placed in charge of the newly formed Brigade de Sûreté in Paris. The unit, staffed by undercover agents who were paid by commission, arrested thousands of criminals, and by Vidocq's count more than four thousand within seven years. He also kept detailed card index records of tens of thousands of criminals. The Sûreté became a model for later police forces, including Scotland Yard.

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.