The first serious European studies of Buddhism and Hinduism were by the scholars Eugene Burnouf and Max Müller. In that time, the academic study of Islam also developed, and, by the mid-19th century, Oriental Studies was a well-established academic discipline in most European countries, especially those with imperial interests in the region. Yet, while scholastic study expanded, so did racist attitudes and stereotypes of Asian peoples and cultures. This frequently extended to local Jewish and Romani communities, who were also of Oriental origin and widely recognized as such. Scholarship often was intertwined with prejudicial racist and religious presumptions, to which the new biological sciences tended to contribute until the end of the Second World War.