Migraine visual auras, often zigzag or fortress-like shapes, were first described in detail in 1778 by the physician John Fothergill, who saw glimmering angles around objects. In 1870 Hubert Airy went further and drew his own attacks, which begin as a small blind spot that grows into a jagged, shimmering arc. Airy believed these patterns revealed something about how the brain processes vision, so he presented his drawings to the Royal Society. Earlier writers had compared the shapes to military fortifications, a metaphor that stuck. Medieval visions in religious manuscripts, such as those of Hildegard of Bingen, have since been linked by historians to migraine auras.

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.