The composite Turko-Persian tradition refers to a distinctive culture that arose in the 9th and 10th centuries (AD) in Khorasan and Transoxiana (present-day, Iran, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, minor parts of Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan). It was Persianate in that it was centered on a lettered tradition of Iranian origin and it was Turkic insofar as it was founded by and for many generations patronized by rulers of Turkic heredity. In subsequent centuries, the Turko-Persian culture would be carried on further by the conquering peoples to neighbouring regions, eventually becoming the predominant culture of the ruling and elite classes of West Asia (Middle East), Central Asia and South Asia (Indian Subcontinent).