Marquis de Lafayette was a French nobleman who volunteered for George Washington's Continental Army during the American Revolution. He commanded American troops at the siege of Yorktown in 1781, the final major battle that secured American independence. Back in France, he helped write the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen and commanded the National Guard after the storming of the Bastille. Radicals later forced him to flee, and he spent more than five years in Austrian prison. He was welcomed as a national guest across the United States in 1824, which is why he is celebrated as a hero in both countries.

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.