There were heterogeneous ethnic settlements during the Bronze and Iron Age in the region where the Altai people live today. From the fifth century BCE and onwards Turkic peoples settled in the area and soon began to blend with the prior populations. The region was then conquered or became within the sphere of influence of the Xiongnu, the Rouran Khaganate, the Turkic Khanganate, the Uyghur Empire and the Yenisei Kyrgyz.