Muhteşem Yüzyıl

Season 1

1520 Crown Prince of Manisa, Prince Suleyman learns of his father's imminent death while camping, and is assigned to report to the capital, Istanbul, where he will assume the throne to become the tenth sultan of the Ottoman Empire. Along with his best friend from boyhood, the falcon bearer Pargali Ibrahim, he travels to Constantinople to ascend the throne. Meanwhile, a cargo ship carries slaves from the Crimean Palace across the Black Sea, and amongst them is the rebellious Alexandra La Rosa, who was abducted during a Tatar slave raid in Ruthenia. Her resistance and unwillingness to obey earns her the least respect amongst the slave girls.

Suleyman arrives to Constantinople and greets his anxious mother, Ayse Hafsa, and his younger sister Hatice Sultan. Immediately, Suleyman is sworn in as the new Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.

Alexandra and the other slaves are sold to the Topkapi Palace, and are inspected by a female phycisian. Because of her beauty and strong character, Alexandra is among the women picked for the new Sultan's harem. Her rioting attitude concerns the servants of the palace, and her infamy reaches the Valide Sultan. The Valide Sultan explains to Alexandra that now she is property of the Sultan, and that any further misbehavior would result in severe punishment. Alexandra is reluctant to heed her warning and vows she is nobody's property and so her rebellious acts continue.

Cafer Agh, an imprudent pasha serving in the Imperial Council is scorned for his poor management of the Egyptian refugees.

Suleyman names Ibrahim his personal concierge, and the other pashas become jealous.

Nigar, the harem's mistress, becomes interested in Alexandra, and she tells her that if she wishes to advance in the Palace, she must obey and submit, because, if she is ever chosen to lie with the Sultan and she conceives, she will rule the world as Haseki Sultan. Alexandra becomes obsessed with getting the Sultan to notice her. She manages to get his attention, to the dismay of the Palace servants, who strongly advised her against it. The Sultan ignores his obvious bliss, and decides to forget her.

Mahidevran Sultan, the mother of the Sultan's only son Mustafa, 5, finally arrives to Topkapi after a long journey from Manisa. She becomes concerned when she notices the Sultan did not greet her as usual, but she dismisses the thought and concludes he was probably weary.

The Sultan orders the beheading of Cafer Agh, and all approve of the Sultan's first decision. When the Valide Sultan hears of her son's decision, she is very proud and arranges a celebration that night in his honor. She orders Daye, her handmaiden, to prepare the most beautiful concubines for him. Ibrahim assists in the choosing of the concubines, and is extremely attracted to Alexandra. She, and her only friend Maria, are among the women chosen to dance for the Sultan that night. Alexandra is pleased with this news.

Mahidervan is dismayed to hear about the celebration, and becomes anxious the Sultan might forget about her.

Alexandra seduces the Sultan with her dancing, and he throws her the purple handkerchief, as Ibrahim had anticipated. All of the concubines are jealous that Alexandra got the handkerchief.

When Mahidevran finds out about Alexandra's gift, she summons her and orders her to stay away from him. Alexandra ignores her and continues to prepare to see him that night.

The Sultan is excited to receive Alexandra, as he still remembers her from her previous attempts to woo him.

As Alexandra is preparing, she becomes furious when she discovers that Mahidevran has taken her place. The Sultan spends the night with Mahidevran out of pity, but orders her to leave. He then summons Ibrahim, and rebukes him for not having been watchful of who entered his chambers, because he really wanted Alexandra.

Alexandra returns to the wing, where the concubines make fun of her and a pillow fight ensues.

Next morning, Nigar orders the concubines to clean the wing of the mess they made. As they clean, Suleyman passes by and notices Alexandra once more. Alexandra is upset with the Sultan because she believes she lost her opportunity, but Nigar summons her to prepare in the haram, because she will be spending that night with him. Suleyman visits his mother and orders her to stay out of his personal life, because he knows she was the one who sent Mahidevran. The Valide is shocked, and she scorns Mahidevran for her immature behavior.

Alexandra prepares, and Nigar gives her tips on how to seduce him. She is told that the night between Thursday and Friday is sacred, and if one were to conceive that night, the baby would be blessed. Alexandra is dismayed when she discovers it is only Wednesday.

Although Alexandra is nervous, the Sultan immediately falls in love with her, and she with him. The Sultan is so mesmerized by her beauty, that he spends Thursday night with her as well. Mahidevran is outraged when she discovers this, because she is always the one who lays with him on Thursdays. The Sultan renames Alexandra Hurrem. Hurrem means bliss. She proudly parades her new name to all the harum. 1521 Hurrem gives birth to her eldest son Mehmed. Suleyman goes on his first war as a sultan. Mahidevran is so disappointed and sad that her place as the mother of the only prince is not anymore her. 1522 Hurrem gives birth to her only daughter mihrimah. Hurrem is so sad that she did not give birth to a prince. She thinks suleyman will not be happy with that fact. The valise sultan tries to calm Hurrem down. Mahidevran is happy with that fact that Hurrem did not give birth to a daughter. 1523 Preparations are made for hatices and Ibrahim's wedding. The current grand vizier Piri Mehmed Pasha wants to retire. Suleyman accepts that proposition and makes Ibrahim the grand vizier. Mahidevran believes herself pregnant but it turns out she's not. Hurrem is pregnant. 1524 Hatice's and Ibrahim's wedding takes places. Hurrem gives birth to the future Sultan Selim. Then Ibrahim hires an artist to decorate his palace. It turns out that the artist is Leo, Hurrem's old boyfriend from Ukraine.

Season 3

1534 Following the previous events, everyone hears about Ibrahim's adultery. Hatice, who at first wanted to divorce him, tries to save their marriage. Nigar gives birth to a child but is told that her baby was stillborn, while in fact Hatice Sultan has sent the child to a far place to live her life in secret, and hides the truth from Ibrahim and Nigar. Following the birth of the child, Nigar is taken to a distant place to be executed but is saved under Hürrem Sultan's order who later brings her back to the harem. A few years later Hürrem finally finds the girl, named Kadar, and subsequently notifies İbrahim. After learning the truth, İbrahim and Hatice arrange a marriage between Rüstem and Nigar. After serving as a regent during the war, Mustafa returns to Manisa and continues to serve as a Sancak Beyi. A girl named Firuze comes to Topkapi. Afife Hatun chooses her as a concubine for the Sultan and unbeknownst to Hürrem sends her to his chambers.1535 Hürrem, who finally discovers Firuze's secret, orders Rüstem to kill her but he sees a tattoo on her neck with the shape of the Safavid dynasty's coat of arms. He notifies Hürrem, who informs Süleyman and the Sultan decides to send her away. 1536 Süleyman grows suspicious of Ibrahim as a result of Hürrem's intrigues. He finally executes İbrahim after inviting him for dinner, then sends the corpse to İbrahim's palace. Hatice becomes very sad at the death of her beloved and disowns her brother Süleyman. Together Hatice and Mahidevran plan on killing Hürrem by sending Diana, Mahidevran's servant, to murder her as a revenge, but she eventually starts to serve Hürrem loyally. Meanwhile, Şah Sultan, who had arrived in the capital at Hatice's invitation, starts to plot against Hürrem. 1538 Hurrem gets sick and beats up hatice do to making her sick either way the sultan forgives her. 1539 Hurrem Sultan tries to convince Mihrimah to marry Rüstem to form an alliance against Şah and Hatice. 1541 Lufti Pasha, who has been the grand vizier since Ayas Pasha's death due to Şah Sultan's trick, continues his crusade against prostitution by punishing a prostitute without waiting for the court's verdict. Learning the truth from her servants, Şah decides to divorce him but is slapped by him before the servants can take him out. Lütfi later gets banished. After a few years, Mihrimah gives birth to a daughter named Ayşe Hümaşah. Since she can't breastfeed the child, they hire a wet nurse who is in fact Şah's spy. Nigar returns to Istanbul and gets united with Şah Sultan and Hatice Sultan to take revenge from Rüstem. They help Nigar enter the palace of Rüstem and Mihrimah and tell her to kill Rüstem and Hürrem at night but when she sees Mihrimah's daughter, she remembers her own daughter and takes the child away. Nigar finally passes the baby back to Rüstem on the edge of a cliff and then commits suicide. Meanwhile, Mustafa meets the Austrian ambassador and this leads to a conflict between him and Süleyman. He punishes Mustafa by not allowing him to join the upcoming campaign and after the war is over, Mustafa will not return to Manisa, but will be sent to govern Amasya. A fake letter is sent to Hürrem informing her that Selim is seriously ill. Hürrem decides to go to Konya in order to see her son, but it is a trick. He is healthy, and Hürrem is captured on her journey to him and imprisoned in a secret place. 1543 Hatice Sultan, who had reconciled with his brother, commits suicide fearing the Sultan's wrath when he learned that she was responsible for Hürrem's disappearance. She died thinking that she took vengeance on her husband's death by taking Hürrem from Süleyman. Malkoçoğlu Balı Bey finds a lead on Ali Ağa (who was Hatice's servant and responsible for abducting Hürrem) and he follows this clue in order to find Hürrem. Mihrimah also discovers that her aunt Şah had sent a spy to her palace. She confronts her and threatens to inform her father unless she leaves the city and gives her wealth to Hürrem's charity institute. Meanwhile, Süleyman and Hürrem's son, Mehmed, is murdered by his closest janissary, Ilyas, a servant of Mahidevran, who transmits a contagious disease to him by wounding him. The news reaches Süleyman, who falls in deep sorrow. Balı Bey succeeds in finding and rescuing Hürrem and brings her back to the palace.

Season 4

Hürrem Sultan, who has returned to the palace, is planning to make sure the throne will pass to one of her own sons. Meanwhile, Rüstem Pasha has been chosen as the new Grand Vizier. Upon the death of Mehmed, the princes are called from their assigned provinces to the capital so that Süleyman can choose the next governor of Manisa. He finally chooses Selim to take the post. A new group of slaves are brought to the palace, bringing along the rebellious Cecilia Bafo, the daughter of a Venetian prestigious nobleman, who tries to enter Selim's harem but fails. She is eventually chosen by Hürrem, who makes Cecilia vow loyalty to her and changes her name to Nurbanu. Fatma Sultan, one of Süleyman's sisters, arrives in the capital with Ibrahim and Hatice's daughter Huricihan. Mustafa gets secretly married to Barbaros's daughter Mihrünnisa, and Bayezid and Huricihan also become close to each other. Atmaca, a soldier loyal to Mustafa who has received orders to kill Mihrünnisa as she's considered an obstacle to Mustafa's success, decides to let her live after learning that she's pregnant with Mustafa's child. At the capital, Hürrem Sultan continues to listen to the court's decisions and meetings through a secret salon. Fatma learns Hürrem's secret and informs Süleyman of her actions, who banishes her from the capital for a while. Süleyman decides to send Mustafa a gift, a caftan, as a sign of respect for his son. Hürrem, however, orders her servants to secretly poison it. After receiving the gift, Mustafa, who thinks his father intended to kill him, prepares a campaign and marches on the capital. Janissaries prevent Mustafa's army from entering the capital, so he and his father meet at the court and he explains to Süleyman the events that had happened before. Süleyman, who has now reconciled with his son, gets seriously ill due to a disease. While on a campaign for war, Süleyman is attacked by assassins but is saved by Mustafa, who had found out about their plans. At the same time, Mustafa meets his brothers Bayezid and Cihangir and promises that he would never kill them for taking the throne. Bayezid and Cihangir also confess that they believe it's his right to ascend the throne after their father's death. When Hürrem gets informed of his two younger sons's intentions, she decides to support her elder son Selim while Rüstem and Mihrimah continue to support Bayezid. Hürrem, with the help of Rüstem and Mihrimah, sends a fake letter to the Persian Shah Tahmasp I. In the letter, which has been sent without Mustafa's knowledge, they write about ruling the empire and disposing off Süleyman. The Sultan believes that Mustafa has betrayed him when he sees his son's seal on the letter and decides to execute Mustafa, ordering him to join him on his campaign against Safavid Persia. Although warned, Mustafa, who doesn't believe that his father intends to kill him, enters his father's tent and is murdered by executioners. Janissaries who supported Mustafa as the potential heir rebel against the Sultan and ask for Rüstem's head. Süleyman forgives his life, but removes him of all his positions and authorities. Cihangir, who deeply loved his elder brother, dies of heartbreak. With most of his sons deceased, a war for capturing the throne begins between Süleyman's two remaining sons, Selim and Bayezid. Hürrem Sultan, who believes in Bayezid's abilities to rule and control the government, decides to support him while Sultan Süleyman favors their elder son, Selim. With scars appearing on her body, it's revealed that Hürrem has an illness with no cure and that her death is near. Bayezid, with many janissary soldiers, sets out for Manisa to take Selim into account for plotting against him, but they're stopped by their mother Hürrem. As she feels her death is near, Hürrem decides to ask forgiveness from Mahidevran. She asks her husband to bury her in the newly built Süleymaniye Mosque and dies a few days later. A year after her death, Beyazid, who hasn't been pleased with his father's decision, gathers a huge army and goes to war against Selim. Süleyman, angered by Bayezid's actions, gives consent to his death. After getting injured during the battle, Bayezid and his sons flee to Persia and take shelter at the Safavid Shah's palace. As he later realizes that his father has offered the Shah money in exchange for his head, he decides to run away, but gets captured and imprisoned. The Shah hands Bayezid and his sons over to Selim, who orders their execution. Before the deaths of Bayezid and his family, with the support of Mihrimah, Rüstem, who betrayed them, is killed by Atmaca. Gülfem Hatun, who blamed the Sultan for destroying his family, tries to kill him but she gets killed by his guardian. Through the following years, Süleyman's health deteriorates. Süleyman decides to go to war for the last time to encourage his soldiers to attack the enemy. He dies during the battle of Szigetvár, as the Ottomans win the battle. Meanwhile, Mihrimah leaves the palace. Selim becomes the next sultan.

The Imperial Family

Statesmen and palace officials

Palace servants and concubines

Otherwise associated to the palace

Controversy

The show generated controversy and complaints from some viewers, for what they referred to as a "disrespectful", "indecent" and "hedonistic" portrayal of the historical sultan.^[2][5] Turkey's Radio and Television Supreme Council, known as RTÜK, claimed they had received over 70,000 complaints about the show and warned Show TV to publicly apologise for wrongly exposing "the privacy of a historical person".^[2] The Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan condemned the show as "an effort to show our history in a negative light to the younger generations."^[2] An MP for the governing Justice and Development Party, Oktay Saral, went further, threatening to outlaw the "misrepresentation of historical figures" in shows such as Muhteşem Yüzyıl.^[6] Small groups of Islamists and Nationalists protested the studio but the show remains successful with consistently high ratings.^[2]

Elif Batuman wrote in The New Yorker:

"On the surface, 'Magnificent Century' looks like a quintessential product of the Erdoğan years. Thanks to Erdoğan's economic policies, Turkey has a thriving television industry, capable of staging elaborate period dramas, and a prosperous family-oriented middle class of observant Muslims eager to watch their own values reflected in a historical imperial setting. And, much as Erdoğan's foreign policy has promoted relations with former Ottoman lands, the show has conquered large audiences in Balkan, Caucasian, and Arab countries not known for their fond memory of Ottoman rule. Broadcast to more than two hundred million viewers in fifty-two countries, "Magnificent Century" has accomplished one of Erdoğan's main goals: Making a powerful, non-secularist, globally involved version of Turkey both plausible and appealing.... And yet Erdoğan is not a fan. In late 2012, at the opening of a provincial airport he took a moment to condemn the show's depiction of Süleyman, as well as its directors and broadcasters, hinting at severe judicial repercussions."^[7]

International popularity

Muhteşem Yüzyıl is reported to have an international audience of 200 million viewers.^[8]

A Nielsen Media Research market study found out that it is the most watched TV show in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2013 and the fourth most successful show in Serbia. The show is part of an ongoing revival of Turkish culture in the Balkans through imported TV shows from Turkey, such as Öyle Bir Geçer Zaman Ki ("As time goes by", number one TV show in Macedonia), or Fatmagül'ün Suçu Ne? ("What is Fatmagül's fault"), which was top ranked TV show in Kosovo 2012. Serbian sociologist Ratko Bozovic explains the popularity by pointing at the traditional, patriarchal values of the Turkish shows, and the many cultural and linguistic similarities between Turkey and the Balkan countries: "The mentality depicted in those shows has to do with a traditional understanding of morality that people in Serbia remember at some level." According to Bozovic, all Balkan countries have seen dramatic changes in terms of family life, and the Turkish shows help them recall value systems that now seem lost.^[9]

In Greece, the series has become quite popular. It has become so popular that^[10][11] Bishop Anthimos of Thessaloniki and the Golden Dawn party condemned the show and urged Greeks not to watch it. "No one should watch Muhteşem Yüzyıl, The Magnificent Century," Anthimos said. He added, "By watching the Turkish series we are telling them we have surrendered."^[10][12]

In Republic of Macedonia, Turkish series have become so popular, that the Macedonian parliament has moved to ban Turkish soaps to reduce the Turkish impact on Macedonian society. Turkish series will gradually be removed and replaced by national programs, according to a 2012 bill.^[11][13]

In Chile where the series is called El Sultán (The Sultan) it is aired since December 14 in Canal 13 on prime time with great success. The Spanish voice of Süleyman is the same as the one of Onur in the Turkish soap opera Las mil y una noches. The series is part of a wave of Turkish soap operas that have become popular in Chilean TV.^[14] The series debuted right after the penultimate chapter of Los 80, a popular historical family drama produced by Canal 13.

In Pakistan, the show was named میرا سلطان: داستان جلال و جمال (Mera Sultan: Dastan-e-Jalal-o-Jamal; lit. My Emperor: Story of Bravery and Love) and it aired on channel Geo Kahani. Geo Kahani claims that it was the channel's most popular show^[15] and received the highest TRPs.^{[16][17][18][19]} However, the channel faced several controversies^[20] and serial got banned few times, but still completed the broadcast due to public pressure.^[21] The Pakistani drama industry was adversely affected by the popularity of Turkish dramas,^[22] and lead actor Halit Ergenç to win first ever International Icon Award in Pakistan's biggest awards show Lux Style Awards in 2017.^[23][24]

In Bangladesh, the show was renamed as Sultan Suleiman and it aired on the new comer channel Deepto TV which was launched in November 2015 and started its broadcasting activity by telecasting first and second episode of this serial as the channels first opening program. It was the first Turkish drama series aired in Bangladeshi television. Through this program, the channel as well as the show acquired 2nd highest TRP by the first week of January and marvelously got the 1st place in the TRP ratings of viewers by the second week among all the Bangladeshi TV channels. The popularity of this show went high on demand. Some celebrities of Bangladesh stricks about it, and gave an ultimatum to Deepto TV to stop broadcasting the show but the viewers also asked for the broadcasting for continue. After much controversies the Channel decided to resume the show from 1 January 2017, starting season 4.