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 Suleiman, as well as its directors and broadcasters, hinting at severe judicial repercussions."^[7]

According to the report of Radio Free Asia, some Uyghur people were arrested for watching the series in 2020, as the Chinese government considered that it might encourage the thought of the Xinjiang Independence.^[8]

Anachronisms

Notable writers and critics pointed out multiple chronological mistakes in various scenes related to the timeline in which the plot takes place (1520-1566). Some of these anachronisms (or chronological inconsistencies) are as follows:

• Pargalı Ibrahim Pasha is shown, in many scenes, as he is working on a table. The practice of using tables in Ottoman palaces, however, was not adopted until the era of Abdulmejid I (1823-1861).^[9]
• Louis II, The King of Hungary, is portrayed in the series as an old man who provokes the Ottoman Empire by executing the Ottoman envoy. The problem with this portrayal is that Louis II never executed anyone, and he was only 20 years old when he died during the Battle of Mohács.^[10]
• In one of the episodes of the show, Sultan Suleiman recites the following Turkish phrase: "Nush ile yola gelmeyeni etmeli tekdir, tekdir ile uslanmayanın hakkı kötektir." This phrase comes from the Terkîb-i Bend of Ziya Pasha, which was only written in 1870, almost 400 years after Suleiman's reign.^[11]
• One of the workers in the kitchen is shown as she is dicing tomatoes. However, tomatoes started becoming a part of the Ottoman cuisine only after 1835, as it took time for them to spread around the world after their discovery in South and Central America following Cristopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas.^[9]
• In the scene where Suleiman the Magnificent visits his son Şehzade Mustafa in the Manisa Palace, it can be seen that the floor is covered with parquet.^[12] However, parquet (parquet de menuiserie) was first used in 1684 on the floors of Palace of Versailles.^[13]

International popularity

Muhteşem Yüzyıl is reported to have an international audience of 200 million viewers ^[14] in over 50 countries.

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 North 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.^[15]

In Bangladesh, the show was known as সুলতান সুলেমান (Sultan Suleiman) and it was broadcast on Deepto TV, dubbed in Bangla. Within the first two months of its release in Bangladesh back in 2015, Sultan Suleiman received the highest TV program ratings in Bangladesh.^[16] The channel gained the most TRP ratings. Some people demanded a ban on this serial as viewers lacked interests in watching local dramas, however, keeping all these controversies aside the show still went on.^[17] After finishing the series, Deepto TV re-broadcast this massively popular show from June 2, 2019.^[18]

In Morocco, the series is called Harim al-Sultan ("The Sultan's Harem"). Many people find it visually and aesthetically enjoyable to watch, but viewers have contrasting opinions of the show's depictions of gender and Ottoman rulers. Many Moroccans stopped watching the show because they did not like the morals it presented.^[19]

In Greece, the series has become quite popular for people of all socioeconomic backgrounds and ages. Many Greek viewers enjoyed the visuals and oriental decorations present in the show, as well as the cultural proximity and historical ties between the two countries.^[19] It has become so popular that Bishop Anthimos of Thessaloniki and the Golden Dawn party condemned the show and urged Greeks not to watch it.^[20][21] "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."^[20][22]

In the Republic of North 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 authored by Elisabeti Nikolovska who has links to the Macedonian Royal Family.^[21][23]

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 Suleiman 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.^[24] 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^[25] and received the highest TRPs.^{[26][27][28][29]} However, the channel faced several controversies^[30] and serial got banned few times, but still completed the broadcast due to public pressure.^[31] The Pakistani drama industry was adversely affected by the popularity of Turkish dramas,^[32] and lead actor Halit Ergenç to win first ever International Icon Award in Pakistan's biggest awards show Lux Style Awards in 2017.^[33][34]