1861, she had four zenanas under her care and was visiting a further eleven every afternoon. Writer She is credited by some with having written the first novel in the Bengali language, Phulmani O Karunar Bibaran (Description of Phulmani and Karuna), in 1852. It was aimed at native Christian women. This book was published six years before Peary Chand Mitra published his Alaler Gharer Dulal. There are other claimants to earlier novels. Nabababubilas published by Bhabani Charan Bandyopadhyay in 1825 is claimed as one but others think of it as being merely a story. Similar reservation has also been expressed about Phulmani O Karunar Bibaran. The first Bengali woman to write a novel was Swarnakumari Devi, with her Deepnirban in 1876. Mullens wrote another book, The Missionary on the Ganges or What is Christianity, in both English and Bengali. She translated Charlotte Maria Tucker's Daybreak in Britain into Bengali. See also Bengali Renaissance References Bibliography Dutta, Sutapa. British Women Missionaries in Bengal, 1793-1861. U.K. Anthem Press, 2017 External links 1826 births 1861 deaths Writers from Kolkata Bengali-language writers Translators from English Translators to Bengali 19th-century Indian translators British Indian history Christianity in India Protestant missionaries in India Indian educators Europeans in India Missionary linguists