Before the 18th century, wounded soldiers were typically left on the battlefield. Napoleon's chief surgeon, Baron Dominique-Jean Larrey, devised the "flying ambulance", a light horse-drawn cart for fast evacuation, and he introduced triage, treating men by the severity of their wounds rather than by rank or nationality. Later innovations followed: camel-drawn ambulances, railway hospital trains, motorised ambulances and portable or flat-pack hospitals that can be shipped to conflict zones. Each answered the same problem of getting treatment to patients quickly, in extreme conditions.

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.