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. 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". Small groups of
Islamists and
Nationalists protested the studio but the show remains successful with consistently high ratings. According to the report of USA government funded
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.
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). •
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. • 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. • One of the workers in the kitchen is shown as she is dicing tomatoes. However, tomatoes became a part of the Ottoman cuisine only after 1835, after European contact with and colonization of the Americas. However, parquet (
parquet de menuiserie) was first used in 1684 on the floors of
Palace of Versailles.
International popularity Muhteşem Yüzyıl is reported to have an international audience of 200 million viewers 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. 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. 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. After finishing the series, Deepto TV re-broadcast this massively popular show from June 2, 2019. 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. 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. "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." In
North Macedonia, the high popularity of Turkish TV series caused concerns about Turkish impact on Macedonian society, prompting the
parliament to pass legislation in 2012 to require an increase in airtime for domestic productions. 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. 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 and received the highest
TRPs. The
Pakistani drama industry was adversely affected by the popularity of Turkish dramas, and lead actor Halit Ergenç to win first ever
International Icon Award in Pakistan's biggest awards show
Lux Style Awards in 2017. == See also ==