Western scholars begin to focus their interest on the cultures of what are called “the Orient,” generally referring to South West Asia and North Africa (including the Indian subcontinent, and the eastern edge of the Mediterranean). This academic interest emerges alongside colonization, as the Christian power structure seeks to take over these lands for Christian interests. Several centuries later, Edward Said will name this trend "Orientalism" and describe its exoticization and cooptation of cultural practices for Western profit.