Tecumseh was a Shawnee chief born in present-day Ohio in 1768 who resisted the expansion of the United States onto Native lands. A persuasive orator, he travelled widely to build a multi-tribal confederacy and argued that land should be held in common and not ceded without the agreement of all. With his brother Tenskwatawa he founded Prophetstown, a large multi-tribal village that was destroyed by American forces at Tippecanoe in 1811. In the War of 1812 he allied with the British and helped capture Detroit. He was killed at the Battle of the Thames in Upper Canada in October 1813, and his confederacy collapsed soon afterwards.

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.