cyril beaumont is cited as having said of the performancethe first close look europe had at an indian dance on home turf according to dance scholar jane pritchard was when five temple dancers from pondicherry arrived in europe in 1838 and performed in the theatres of london and paris bayaderes dancing girls of pondicherry as they were advertised had everyone agog with their rapid movements prodigious winks and outlandish costumesthis was certainly not the first time that the west was studying india in the 17th century rembrandt was already doing work inspired by mughal art by early 18th century chairs in sanskrit had been established in universities there were many translations of sanskrit works in english and european languages says ahuja the west was looking for ways to comprehend india through the artsbut there was one problem with this pernicious typecasting as ahuja describes it it was purely hindu it left out the islamic culture except in the depiction of opulence and decorativeness no mention was made of the great advancements in philosophy or science in the sultanate period or that of the mughals