Shamakhi dancers

Russian painter Grigory Gagarin who lived in the Caucasus in 1840–1855 depicted the Shamakhi dancers in a series of paintings, in which he referred to them as bayaderki[1] (баядерки; sg.

bayaderka – баядерка; originally the Portuguese term balliadera borrowed into Russian and other European languages via French (bayadère) and initially used to refer to the devadasi.

In literature, Shamakhi dancers are referred to in Comte de Gobineau's novel The dancing girl of Shamakha and other Asiatic tales.

It was published in French as La Danseuse de Shamakha in 1918 and translated into English in 1923 by Rose Wilder.

She is the author of some 15 publications including autobiographical volumes and books on culture and politics.