The Magnificent Century

The Magnificent Century is a prime time historical Turkish soap opera.
It is based on the life of one of the Greatest Ottoman Sultans, Sultan Suleiman Kan.
The nation gave him the adjective Magnificent, Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent,
because he was a great leader who knew how to succeed.
He was the tenth longest-reigning Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1520 to his death in 1566. Although there were rumors that his wife was leading the Empire trough his shadow.

His reign begun when he was 26 years old.
Sultan Suleiman had an ambition to build an Empire even more powerful then the one Alexander the Great ruled.
Trough the years his fame as a great warrior and conqueror has spread from East to West.
With his companion Pargali Ibrahim, Sultan Suleiman achieved great victories.
He made Ibrahim his brother, friend and Advisor even married him to his beautiful sister Hatice.

 

The television series shows Suleiman's consolidation of his power.

Pargali Ibrahim being the Great Vazir of the Empire, reinforcing the rules of law trough the whole Ottoman Empire, meeting foreign diplomats and preparing for military campaigns, all set against the backdrop of the tension between Christian Europe and the Islamic Ottoman Empire.

 

The most interesting thing for all the viewers is that the series also focuses on the relationships among the members of the imperial household, especially romantic entanglements and rivalries.
 

 

 
And Of course the animosity between Hurrem Sultan and Mahidevran Sultan ( Sultans first favorite concubine and the mother of his eldest son Mustafa) and the role of Ayse Hafsa Sultan the Valide Sultan mother of Suleiman,; Hurrem's rise from slave women to Sultans favorite concubine, her fall and back to grace from bottom to Sultans legal wife (she was the first legal wife of a Sultan in the history of the Ottoman Empire) and one of the most mighty women in the whole world.

All that and much more in one of the best prime time Turkish Television Series.