Aruna the Worthy

Aruna the Worthy (born Ghoruzan Aruna Dazarin Atalik, 10 February 686) reigned as Queen of the Heavenly Kingdom of Zatay from 706 to 733. She succeeded her father, Ghoruzana II, shortly after his death in 706. She was the youngest of Ghoruzana's three children with his wife, Dazarin: her eldest sister, Maha, had died in her childhood, and her older brother, Dagyarana, became a Trang monk before their father's death. Aruna's reign has been acknowledged as the beginning of the Golden Age of the Atalik dynasty, starting with the end of the Zatay-Nujj conflict in the aftermath of the War of Azayun in 707, which was followed by a period of economic prosperity.

Early life
Ghoruzan Aruna Dazarin was born on 10 February 686, the youngest daughter of King Ghoruzana II and his wife, Queen Dazarin, who died giving birth to Aruna. The Queen had always been ill of health, and the birth of her second child, Prince Dagyarana, had almost taken her life. Most of Ghoruzana's reign took place amidst warfare, and the King was always busy repelling attacks from the western Nujj invaders and Sasak raiders. Early in her life, Aruna was sent to a retreat of the royal family in Artin-zalyak, alongside her older siblings, Princess Maha and Prince Dagyarana, to be raised by their paternal aunt Princess Kurana.

Under their aunt's tutelage, the royal children were educated in the fields of literature, music, and Trang theology. They were also frequently visited by merchants, sailors and noblemen and noblewomen from the Crescent Empire and the far-off Nahiir Lamrates, as their aunt took most of the diplomatic work the King could not take care of due to his duties in the war. By her own account, one of the most impressing moments of her early life was the visit of the Citrang imperial crown princess Āwlyul, who took her entire court to Yaghari in 700.

Princess Maha, the eldest of the King's children and heir-apparent to the throne, died in winter of 701 after a sudden outburst of fevers. The heartbroken King, who up until then had visited Artin-zalyak regularly, stopped seeing his children and focused in defeating the Nujj entirely. In 703, Aruna's brother and now heir-apparent Prince Dagyarana renounced his position of heir and took a vow to serve in the Trang Order of the Mother, leaving Aruna as the sole heir to the throne.

After resulting victorious in the Battle of Ozirantar in 704, King Ghoruzana returned to Yaghari where he was reunited with Aruna. However, he died two years later, leaving Aruna to take the Crown.