The Ottoman Empire - Harem: The Road to Power
| Television series | |
|---|---|
| German title | The Ottoman Empire - Harem: The Road to Power |
| Original title | Muhteşem Yüzyıl |
 | |
| Country of production | Turkey |
| original language | Turkish |
| Year (s) | 2011-2014 |
| length | approx. 90 min. (Turkey), approx. 45 min. (export) minutes |
| Episodes | 139 (Turkey), 311 (export) in 4 seasons |
| genre | historical-fictional |
| idea | Meral okay |
| First broadcast | January 5, 2011 on Show TV (Seasons 1 and 2), Star TV (Seasons 3 and 4) |
| German-language first broadcast |
May 17th, 2019 on buntoTV |
The Ottoman Empire - Harem: The Way to Power ( Turkish original title: Muhteşem Yüzyıl ; in German The splendid century ) is a Turkish history television series about the life of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent . When it first aired in Turkey in January 2011 , it sparked heated discussion in the country about its portrayal of polygamy and slavery . The series premiered in Germany on May 17, 2019 on the buntoTV streaming service.
action
The plot begins in 1520: During a hunting trip with his childhood friend Ibrahim, the young Prince Suleyman I receives news that his father Sultan Selim has died. Süleyman now ascends the Ottoman throne as the tenth sultan and immediately begins a palace reform. a. he makes Ibrahim his chamberlain and has a corrupt vizier executed. In addition, Süleyman has the plan to create a world empire that includes the west and east.
Meanwhile, a woman attracts his attention: Alexandra (Hürrem) , a rebellious Slavic or Ruthenian slave in his harem who has set out to avenge the murder of her parents and her own enslavement by conquering the heart of the sultan, which she does also soon succeeds; the sultan marries her and she becomes his favorite wife. She arouses the insatiable hatred of the Sultan's former favorite wife, the mother of his son Mustafa, and a power struggle flares up between the two women that will change the future of the Ottoman Empire.
In addition to the power struggles for supremacy in the harem, another storyline is the rise of Ibrahim to Grand Vizier, his wedding to the sister of Sultan Hatice , his hubris, his subsequent fall and his murder. In addition, Mustafa's growth from child to governor of a province is shown.
Production and broadcast
The series is produced by Tims Productions for Show TV under the direction of producer Timur Savcı. Directed by Yağmur Taylan and Durul Taylan. The historian Erhan Afyoncu was available as an advisor to the series.
The first episode aired in Turkey on January 5, 2011. The subsequent 23 episodes ran weekly on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. until the end of season 1 on June 22, 2011. The second season started on September 14, 2011 on the same broadcast date. The series has been running on Star TV, which was bought by Doğuş Holding, since January 2012.
The Turkish original version of the series comprises 139 episodes, each with 90 and 125 minutes playing time. The series was cut for export so that it could be broadcast daily as a telenovela and encompass 311 episodes of around 45 minutes each.
The screenwriter of the series Meral Okay died on April 9, 2012.
At the end of May 2013, the departure of the leading actress Meryem Uzerli was announced.
International broadcasts
The series is broadcast in over 45 countries in Southeast Europe , Central Asia and the Arab world . The Turkish broadcaster Star-TV is expected to broadcast the most successful Turkish television series to date in 60 countries in 2013.
The following table shows a selection of the countries in which the series can be seen on television.
| Country / Region | Channel | title |
|---|---|---|
| Afghanistan | 1TV | حٌرّم سلطان |
| Albania | Albanian Screen Radio Television | Sulejmani i Madhërishëm |
| Azerbaijan | Lider TV | Möhtəşəm yüz il |
| Bulgaria | TV7 | Великолепният век |
| Bosnia Herzegovina | Televizija OBN | Sulejman Veličanstveni |
| Germany | buntoTV | The Ottoman Empire - Harem: The Road to Power |
| Estonia | Channel 2 | Sajandi armastus |
| Greece | ANT1 | Σουλεϊμάν ο Μεγαλοπρεπής |
| Iran | GEM TV | حریم سلطان (Harim Sultan) |
| Israel | Israel Plus | Великолепный век |
| Italy | Babel TV | Il secolo Magnifico |
| Kazakhstan | Habar | Сулейман Великолепный |
| Colombia | Canal 1 | El siglo magnífico |
| Kosovo | Radiotelevizioni 21 | Sulltani - Shekulli Madhështor |
| Croatia | RTL Hrvatska | Sulejman veličanstveni |
| Lebanon | LBCI | حريم السلطان (Harim Al Sultan) |
| Morocco | Medi1 TV | حريم السلطان (Harim Al Sultan) |
| Macedonia | Channel 5 | Величествениот султан (Macedonian-speaking) |
| Alsat-M | Sulltani - Shekulli Madhështor (Albanian speaking) | |
| Middle East | OSN | Harim Al Sultan |
| Montenegro | Prva TV | Sulejman Veličanstveni |
| Pakistan | Geo Kahani | Mera Sultan |
| Panama | TVN | El Sultan |
| Poland | TVP1 | Wspaniałe stulecie |
| Romania | Kanal D Romania | Suleyman Magnificul |
| Russia | Domashniy | Великолепный век (Velikolepnıy Vek) |
| Switzerland | Netflix | Magnificent Century |
| Serbia | P. 1 + 2 Prva TV / B92 | Сулејман Величанствени (Sulejman Veličanstveni) |
| P. 4 Nova.rs / RTV Pink , p. 5 RTV Pink | s. O. | |
| Slovakia | Markíza 4 episodes afterwards TV Doma | Sultan |
| Slovenia | Planet TV | Sulejman Veličastni |
| Czech Republic | TV Barrandov | Velkolepé století |
| Tunisia | Nessma TV | Harim Sultan |
| Ukraine | 1 + 1 | Величне століття. Роксолана |
| Hungary | RTL club | Szulejmán |
| United Arab Emirates | Dubai TV | حريم السلطان (Harim Al Sultan) |
main actor
| Role (link: historical person) |
actor | description | Seasons |
|---|---|---|---|
| Suleyman I. | Halit Ergenç | Sultan of the Ottoman Empire | 1-4 |
| Hürrem |
Meryem Uzerli Vahide Perçin |
Harem slave and later wife of Suleyman | 1-4 |
| Ayşe Hafsa | Nebahat Çehre | Mother Suleyman | 1, 2 |
| İbrahim | Okan Yalabık | Suleyman's friend, later raised by him to pasha and grand vizier , Hatice's husband | 1, 2, 3 |
| Mahidevran | Only Fettahoğlu | Suleyman's concubine and mother of Prince Mustafa | 1-4 |
| Hatice | Selma Ergeç | Sister Suleyman, wife of İbrahim | 1, 2, 3 |
| Piri Mehmet | Arif Erkin Güzelbeyoğlu | Grand Vizier | 1 |
| Daye | Sema Keçik | Harem leader | 1, 2 |
| Nigar | Filiz Ahmet | Harem leader | 1, 2, 3 |
| Gulsah | Nihan Büyükağaç | Servant Mahidevran | 1, 2, 3 |
| Sümbül | Selim Bayraktar | Harem chief | 1-4 |
| Gül | Engin Günaydın | Harem chief | 2 |
| Bali Bey | Burak Ozcivit | Young confidante of the Sultan | 2, 3 |
| Mustafa | Mehmet Günsür | Son of the sultan | 2-4 |
| Cihangir | Tolga Sarıtaş | Son of the sultan | 2, 3 |
| Mihrimah | Pelin Karahan | Daughter of the sultan | 3-4 |
| Armor | Ozan Güven | Confidante Hürrem and Mihrimah's husband | 3-4 |
| Mehmed | Gürbey İleri | Son of the sultan | 3 |
| Ebusuud | Tuncel Kurtiz | Kadi of Istanbul | 3-4 |
| Saw | Deniz Çakır | Sultan's sister and wife of Lütfi Pascha | 3 |
| Mihrunnisa Hatun | Berrak Tüzünataç | Mustafa's wife, Mehmed's mother | 4th |
Reception and controversy
The television series has caused a sensation since its start in Turkey. The portrayal of the sultan, revered as a hero, met with outrage among conservatives in the country. The fact that he is said to have had several concubines was denounced and several hundred protesters from the Saadet party and the BBP party gathered in front of the station's gates to call for the series to be discontinued. The then Turkish Minister of Culture Ertuğrul Günay, on the other hand, announced that it was part of democracy and freedom of expression that films be made about famous people who may not please everyone.
In December 2012, the series was again targeted by an MP. According to Hürriyet , AKP MP Oktay Saral was planning a law in 2012 that would forbid “humiliation of historical people or distortion of real facts”.
However, despite this controversy, the television series enjoys great popularity among the majority of viewers in Turkey as well as other Muslim countries.
Most read articles on Wikipedia
The popularity of the series resulted in the Wikipedia articles on Süleyman and Hürrem becoming the most popular Wikipedia articles in multiple languages, including a. 4th place in Arabic, 6th place in Romanian for Suleyman and 10th place in Ukrainian for Hürrem.
Anachronisms / film mistakes
Some experts have noticed anachronisms in the television series that are historically impossible:
- King Ludwig of Hungary is portrayed in the series as an older, bellicose man who provokes the Ottoman Empire by executing his ambassadors - the historical king, however, did not execute any ambassadors and died at the age of twenty while fleeing from Ottoman troops after the defeat in the battle near Mohács (1526)
- Ibrahim Pascha uses a desk for his written and administrative work. However, this type of desk was only introduced into the palace by Sultan Abdülmecit I , whose tenure began in 1839.
- You can see a kitchen helper in the palace cutting tomatoes. However, the tomato was not introduced to Europe until after the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus in 1492 . Before this plant species was only known on the American continent. The tomato only came into the Ottoman Empire in 1835.
- The eastern Anatolian city of Diyarbakır is mentioned in the series. However, the name was Diyar-ı Bekir at the time the series is set . Even earlier this city was called Amidiye or Kara Amid in Turkish . This error was corrected in the course of the series.
- While the Sultan Suleyman visits his son in the palace of Manisa, park benches can be seen outside . However, these types of benches, as shown in the series, were first introduced in the Palace of Versailles in 1684.
- In one episode, when Ibrahim Pascha hugs his brother, a car drives by in the back of the picture.
- Suleyman's black turban was not common until the 19th century.
- In some episodes from the 17th on, budgies are shown in the cage. However, this species of parrot was first brought to Europe from Australia in 1840. The color variations of the budgies in the series appeared even later during captive breeding.
- Süleyman's sister Hatice Sultan died on November 2, 1538, not until 1543.
literature
- Beyazıt Akman: Voluntary Acceptance of Western Imperialist Discourse in Turkish Historical TV Series: The Case of The Magnificent Century . In: “History Studies”, Vol. 6, No. 1 (2014), pp. 1–13 (English).
- Maryam İsmail: Building an empire of influence: 'Muhteşem Yüzyıl' . In: “Turkish Review”, Vol. 3, No. 6 (November 2013) (English).
- Berna Pekesen: Past as Popular Culture. The Ottoman Empire on Turkish television today . In: “ Zeithistorische Forschungen / Studies in Contemporary History” 12 (2015), pp. 140–151.
Web links
- Muhteşem Yüzyıl - Official Website (Turkish)
- Website at Star TV (Turkish)
- The Ottoman Empire - Harem: The path to power in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b From May 17th, 2019 exclusively on bumerangtv.com . Retrieved July 2, 2016.
- ↑ English-language action summary ( memento from January 19, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ faz.net
- ↑ startv.com.tr
- ↑ tv7.bg ( Memento of the original from January 6, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ obn.ba ( Memento of the original from December 25, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ [1] >
- ↑ antenna.gr
- ↑ gemonline.tv
- ↑ 9tv.co.il
- ↑ babel.tv ( Memento of the original from June 29, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Canal 1
- ↑ sulejman.rtl.hr ( memento of the original from January 23, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ lbcgroup.tv
- ↑ medi1tv.com
- ↑ kanal5.com.mk ( Memento of the original from June 28, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ geokahani.tv
- ↑ todayszaman.com ( Memento of the original from November 26, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ kanald.ro ( Memento of the original from January 15, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ domashniy.ru ( Memento of the original from January 17, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ prva.rs
- ↑ sultan.markiza.sk
- ↑ sl-si.facebook.com
- ↑ barrandov.tv ( memento of the original from January 6, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ nessma.tv
- ↑ roksolana.1plus1.ua
- ↑ rtlklub.hu
- ↑ Hürriyet of December 4, 2012
- ↑ [ How mad did the old sultans do? http://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/ausland/tuerkische-seifenoper-wie-toll-trieben-es-die-alten-sultane-12016289-l1.html .] In: FAZ , January 7, 2013, P. 3
- ↑ wmflabs.org
- ↑ youtube.com
- ↑ deutsch-tuerkische-nachrichten.de
