Page:History of India Vol 4.djvu/102

 A Dancing Girl, or Bayadere

''The nautch girls, or professional dancers in India, are sometimes spoken of in European writings as the Bayaderes, a term borrowed from the Portuguese, who thus designated them. They are frequently connected with the temples and called Devadasis, "Servants of the Gods," acting as handmaidens of the priests who minister in the shrines.''