Aravis Tarkheena

Aravis was a Tarkheena, a female member of the ruling class of Calormen.

Of Aravis's family we are told "... I am the the only daughter of Kidrash Tarkaan, the son of Rishti Tarkaan, the son of Kidrash Tarkaan, the son of Illsombreh Tisroc, the son of Ardeeb Tisroc who was decended in a right line from the god Tash." (from The Horse and His Boy)

The only daughter of Kidrash Tarkaan, Aravis spent her youth in the heart of Calormen. When we first meet her in the Chronicles her mother and older brother have both died and her father has recently married an unkind woman, who made no attempt to disguise her dislike for Aravis. Aravis's already difficult home life was rendered impossible when her father announced her engagement to Ahoshta Tarkaan, an ugly, loathsome man whom she despises. Feeling she had no other option, she decided to commit suicide. However, her attempt was interrupted by a brief speech from her mare, Hwin, who was actually a Talking Horse from Narnia. Surprised by her horse's ability to talk, she forewent her attempt at suicide and listened to Hwin's wise council,"Oh my mistress do not by any means destroy yourself for if you live you may yet have good fortune but all the dead are dead alike!" After that Hwin told her all about Narnia so vividly Aravis Wished badly to go. They then decided to head north to Narnia. On their journey they met another talking horse named Breehy-hinny-brinny-hoohy-hah and a boy named Shasta. This journey, and her relationship with Shasta,who was also a fugitive heading north, is the main plot of The Horse and his Boy.

To her credit, she was brave and intensely loyal. However, she was also very arrogant (a possible side effect of her upbringing) and at times, very manipulative. Throughout the story we see her grow and change to become less like a ruthless Calormene, and more like a Narnian or an Archenlander. nobility, which, in the end, is what she became (and what she was.) It is likely that   C. S. Lewis meant to metaphorically represent the Christian notion that though one is born to royalty, we are all as commoners before God in the contrast between this character and Shasta; and though one be a commoner (as the character Shasta was before discovering his true identity) we are also royalty in God's eyes. One of the main arguments against racist accusations regarding the Chronicles of Narnia is that in her we find a character that is both Calormene and a main character.

Marrying Shasta (or rather, Prince Cor), she became a queen of Archenland, and the mother of King Ram the Great. She is later reunited with her friends in Aslan's Country.