Hampi, also referred to as the Group of Monuments at Hampi, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in east-central Karnataka, India. It became the centre of the Hindu Vijayanagara Empire capital in the 14th century.
Chronicles left by Persian and European travellers, particularly the
Portuguese, state Hampi was a prosperous, wealthy and grand city near
the Tungabhadra River,
with numerous temples, farms and trading markets. By 1500 CE,
Hampi-Vijayanagara was the world's second-largest medieval-era city
after Beijing, and probably India's richest at that time, attracting traders from Persia and Portugal.
The Vijayanagara Empire was defeated by a coalition of Muslim
sultanates; its capital was conquered, pillaged and destroyed by
sultanate armies in 1565, after which Hampi remained in ruins.
