Afrasiyab Badal bey oghlu Badalbeyli (Azerbaijani: Əfrasiyab Bədəl bəy oğlu Bədəlbəyli) (19 April 1907, in Baku – 6 January 1976, in Baku) was a Soviet Azerbaijani composer, with noble Iranian origins (he was the descendant of Bahman Mirza and Abbas Mirza), conductor and music critic, author of the music and libretto of Giz Galasi (The Maiden Tower), the first Azerbaijani ballet[1][2] and the first ballet in the Middle East.

In 1930, Afrasiyab Badalbeyli graduated from the Azerbaijan State University majoring in Oriental studies[6] and continued his education at a music school affiliated with the Leningrad Conservatory, which he finished in 1938.

[7] In 1931, he married ballerina Gamar Almaszadeh who accompanied him to Leningrad while pursuing higher education at a professional ballet school herself.

[8] His later works included Khalg Gazabi ("The Popular Rage", 1941; co-author Boris Zeidman), Nizami (1948) and Soyudlar aghlamaz ("Willows Don't Cry", 1971).

This story line served as the inspiration for the creation of Afrasiyab Badalbeyli's "Maiden's Tower" – the first ballet ever to be produced in Azerbaijan and the Muslim East (1940).