Tsar Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra and their children were executed by a firing squad in Yekaterinburg on 17 July 1918, during the Russian Civil War. The execution was led by Yakov Yurovsky. Afterwards, several people claimed to be Romanovs who had survived, and the most famous story was that Grand Duchess Anastasia had escaped. All of these claims were false. The family's skeletal remains were later recovered and identified through DNA testing. Anastasia was not among survivors; her remains were found buried separately from the rest of the family, which helped fuel the legend for decades.

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.