The ruins of Hampi were discovered in 1800. They were discovered and brought to light by Colin Mackenzie. He was an engineer and a collector of antiques. He was an important official of the East India Company. He visited Hampi and made the first survey map of this site. He got the first information about Hampi from the priests in the Virupaksha Temple and the shrine of Pampa devi.
From 1836, calligraphic experts began to make their researches in Hampi. They collected a lot of inscriptions from Hampi and the temples there.
From 1856, photographers began to take pictures of the monuments there. They also took photographs of the various pictures.
These pictures helped the scholars to study more about Hampi.
Historians now wanted to recreate the history of Vijayanagara. They used information from these sources to compare it with the descriptions of foreign travellers to this place. They also compared it with the information available in Telugu, Kannada, Tamil and Sanskrit books. Thus by studying things in minute detail, the historians tried to recreate the history of Vijayanagara. Further efforts were made by the Archaeological Survey India to find out more things about Hampi.