While the showrunners of this Turkish historical soap opera have undoubtedly Shown Their Work, they sadly got as much wrong as they got right.
- Ayşe Hafsa, mother of Süleyman the Magnificent, is claimed to be a crimean princess. This is now widely considered to be a myth, since sultans and princes of this era did not enter marriages with foreign princesses - it would've been considered beneath them, since it would imply the royal family in question is in some way equal to the ottoman dynasty, which at the time was already a preposterous idea. Ayşe Hafsa was most likely a simple concubine who only became important as a mother of sultan's only surviving son.
- The show also features the character of Aybige, daughter of valide sultan's alleged brother Sahib I. (himself a real person). While we don't know much about Sahib's daughters, it's safe to say that none of them was ever engaged to an ottoman prince, and there are no mentions of any of them ever entering Istanbul in the historical record.
- On the other hand, the series significantly downplays the fact that she was the most powerful mother of sultan thus far - it was during her reign that the title of sultan's mother (the most powerful woman of the empire) changed from "valide hatun" to "valide sultan". She de facto paved the way for influential women of following generations, such as Nurbanu, Safiye and Kösem.
- Speaking of titles - no, the title of Haseki Sultan did not exist before Hürrem. It was, in fact, created specifically for her.
- Even if it did exist, Mahidevran probably wouldn't hold it, since it is now considered unlikely her relationship with sultan was different from any other concubine. In Manisa, she was getting the same stipend as the rest of Süleyman's concubines, and before Mustafa's birth even less. Besides, by the time he ascended the throne, he had several children with different women. Lastly, per the customs at time, Süleyman would stop sleeping with her after their son was born, as one concubine should've had only one son. Yes, Süleyman did break with the tradition later, when he sired many more children with Hürrem after the birth of prince Mehmed, but this just goes to show how exceptional their relationship was even early on. While Mahidevran and Hürrem probably did share an intense rivalry, it's more likely to be over their children, not sultan himself. Indeed, the series itself mentions that becoming the next sultan was a matter of life and death for the princes, and the fact that Hürrem had several, while Mahidevran only had one (albeit the oldest and most likely to succeed his father) would create a lot of tension between them.
- While there was a woman named Gülfem in the harem of Süleyman I., she appears to not have much in common with her series' counterpart. Older theory, that she was a mother of Süleyman's son which died as a child, was disproven by harem registers from Manisa palace, which don't mention her having any children; sons or daughters, dead or alive. She might've been a former concubine of Süleyman, but just as likely she was just a servant from the very start of her career, who managed to rise trough the ranks and even befriend sultan himself. Speaking of which - their relationship was even closer than in the show, as their letters indicate close friendship (including one telling a cute story about how she mistook a bottle of cologne sultan sent her as a gift for an alcoholic beverage). Early on in his relationship to Hürrem, Süleyman also entrusted Gülfem with making sure Hűrrem spends money wisely, while Hürrem herself indicates in her letters that Gülfem was a trusted servant, if not a personal friend of hers as well. Not mentioned is also a mosque she built in Istanbul district of Üşküdar, which was unusual for a harem servant and indicates her exceptional rank and favor of sultan.
- All of Süleyman's sisters are in the show daughters of Ayşe Hafsa; while she might've given birth to some them, most certainly not all - not the ones younger than Süleyman, anyway, since, as mentioned before, at the time is was customary for men of the dynasty to stop sleeping with a concubine once she has given birth to a son.
- It's not known what relationship, if any, Hatice Sultan had with Ibrahim Pasha. They certainly weren't married - that myth was dispelled by modern historiography. Hatice sultan is correctly shown to have been a widow by the time show started, and it's not certain whether or not she was married a second time (it was either her or one of her sisters who married Çoban Mustafa Pasha). She had a daughter, Nefise, with her first husband, and might've had one or two sons with him too. Ibrahim was instead happily married to Muhsine, who was a noblewoman. This myth probably stems from the fact that Ibrahim and Muhsine's wedding included festivities that wouldn't be out of place during a wedding of a princess. This marriage and lavish festivities surrounding it were meant as a sign of sultan's favor, encouraging the old ottoman elites to accept lowborn Ibrahim into their ranks. Muhsine and Ibrahim had one child, son named Mehmedşah, who died very young a few years after his father.
- The show otherwise does a surprisingly good job portraying Ibrahim pasha - his humble origins, rising ego, love of western things (him bringing the statues from campaign in Hungary, as well as moral outrage that followed, actually happened), his enmity with Hürrem sultan and support of Mustafa despite the prince being jealous of him as a child... It invents details and fills in the blanks (for example, we still have no idea why Ibrahim and Hürrem hated each other so much), but its portrayal of Ibrahim pasha may be the most historically accurate part of the show.
- Fatma, Süleyman's other sister, was married three times - first to certain Mustafa pasha, then to Kara Mustafa, and lastly to Ibrahim pasha (not that one). Fatma is shown, at the beginning of season 4, to be unhappily married (in real life, Mustafa pasha was gay and neglected his wife)... Which she shouldn't be. She was already divorced and marrying Kara Mustafa in 1522, which in the show was season 1! At the time, Fatma wasn't even in the show.
- Şah's arrival to the Istanbul also doesn't match the historical timeline - in reality, it happened only after Lütfi became a grand vizier, which was three years after Ibrahim's execution. It remains unknown whether or not she engaged in politics; rather, she is known for her piety and support of Sufis (which, to be fair, is shown in the series itself too).
- In the show, when Süleyman ascends the throne, Ayşe Hafsa and Hatice come with him, while Mahidevran and Mustafa follow suit. This was not the case in reality, as Süleyman entered Istanbul rather hastily, leaving his harem behind. His mother, concubines and children arrived only in winter of that year, a few months after that.
- In the TV series, it is shown that Süleyman was severely underestimated by his pashas and the foreign monarch alike; what isn't shown is why. Süleyman and his father did indeed have a notoriously bad relationship, since Selim I. suspected Süleyman might do to him what Selim himself did to his own father. Süleyman, probably at the advice of his mother, thus tried to mitigate his father's suspicion and laid low during his stay in Manisa. As a result, outside observers were under the impression that Süleyman isn't doing much, and many even labeled him useless.
- Since our sources on the harem and background scheming in ottoman government are so scarce, it's no surprise that series often just fills in the blanks and invents stuff which might or might not have happened. What's more surprising is that just as often it leaves out power plays that we can be reasonably sure of. For example, Süleyman's early struggle with ottoman nobility is omitted - his naming of Ibrahim pasha for grand vizier was part of this, as it was a significant blow to the pride of old Ottoman families, who previously felt entitled to higher positions. These omissions can by explained by the fact that the series focuses more on harem intrigues than on politics in divan, only really taking it into account if one of the heroines takes part in them.
- Show's treatment of Louis II of Hungary is quite appalling. In the show, he's a middle-aged man with no redeeming qualities, a mustache-twirling villain who is slain by the righteous sultan Süleyman. By contrast, history remembers him as the exact opposite - a young man (he was 20-years old at the time he died in Mohacs) with a sad life story. His mother died giving birth to him and his father died when he was 10, making little Louis king. When he ascended the throne, nobles of Hungary were as corrupt as they were powerful because of his father's weakness, and Louis himself was basically penniless. When Louis beheaded the Ottoman ambassador and declared war on Ottomans, he did so hoping his brother-in-law, who was none other than Charles V., would help him, but this didn't happen. Hungarian army with its inferior numbers, equipment and tactics stood little chance against Ottomans, and magnates were in no hurry to help the king himself, after his death even allying themselves with sultan in order to oust Habsburgs. King's army ultimately stood no chance, and Louis died young, crushed by the weight of his own horse when it struggled to cross the river.
- Of Süleyman's children, many are omitted, especially those who died young. These include Murad, Mahmud and Raziye, who were born in Manisa and died shortly after Mehmed's birth because of a plague; this event especially must've influenced the dynamic of Süleyman's family, as well as his emotional state. It's even possible that without it, and the solace she could provide to Süleyman, Hürrem would never rise to the position of his greatest love. Their son Abdullah, who died as a child, is also Adapted Out.
- The show also makes mistakes in its worldbuilding, as it were. One of the biggest is role of the Old Palace. In the show, it serves much the same function as it would later - a place of banishment (along with home of widows of deceased sultans). However, in Süleyman's times, before Topkapi as we know it today was complete, Old Palace served as home of sultan's female family members and concubines he didn't want to have "on hand" (for them, there were already smaller quarters in Topkapi). It was during Süleyman's reign (more precisely, in 1534, when his mother died and he married Hürrem) that these quarters were massively expanded and harem moved there, since Süleyman was something of a family man and wanted to see his children (and Hürrem) often without having to travel trough the city. Even then, Şahihuban still lived in the Old Palace after divorce and so did Mihrimah after her husband's death. A lot of less important women also stayed there, with Hürrem acting as the head of Old Palace harem and visiting it regularly. Especially in later years she spent a lot of the time there, since illness made her unable to move often.
- Women are shown to arrive to sultan's harem as adults, shortly after being captured, when this probably wasn't the case for most of them. Sadly, most harem slaves were captured as children, often bought, raised and educated by other members of the ottoman elite before being gifted to sultan - we see this with some valide sutanas, such as Handan (mother of Ahmed I.), who was given to her nephew by princess Gevherhan and her husband, royal surgeon. Hürrem probably came to Istanbul the same way. Her Turkish was indeed poor at the beginning of her relationship with sultan, but this probably wasn't because of her recent enslavement; rather, it's much more likely she was educated outside of the Ottoman Empire, like in the palace of crimean khan. We know the empire had a good relationship with Crimea, and Hürrem was captured in a Tartar raid (Tartars being the ethnic group ruling the Crimean Khanate). Interestingly, the town she was from, Rohatyn, experienced a large tartar raid, during which she could've been captured... In the year 1509, when she was just a child. The show's version of event almost seems like Politically Correct History by comparison.
- At some point, Mahidevran leaves with Mustafa for Edirne and only returns when he's an older teenager/young adult. As far as we know, this could never happen in reality. Mahidevran spend her life between coming to Istanbul and going to Manisa in Old Palace.
- The show can make up whatever new rivals for Hürrem it wants, since we don't have much evidence to the contrary. Heck, the russian concubines from season 1 might've been real - one ambassador related to us an anecdote about how Süleyman was given two russian concubines as a gift, but Hürrem's crying and pleas convinced him to sent them away. Only one of them clashed with the historical evidence - and that's Isabela Fortuna. There never was a spanish princess with that name, period. Now, Isabela is a common name for spanish princesses in general, and the younger sister of Charles V. was even the right age... Except everything else about her does not match Isabela Fortuna at all. Not only she was never captured by pirates, but by the time the show starts, she was already married to the king of Denmark. She also died young before the Battle Of Mohacs even took place. Not only she wasn't anywhere near the Mediterran, she wasn't even alive.
- Isabela Fortuna in the show is also engaged to prince Frederick of Naples, who later attempts to rescue her. There was no prince Frederick of Naples in 1526; Naples was already a part of the Habsburg empire by then, and its ruler was Charles V.
- In the show, much drama is wrapped around Süleyman's decision to marry Hürrem, mostly because of one factor that wasn't present in real life - valide sultan, who was actually dead at the time (only a few months, but nonetheless). This made Hürrem the undisputable first lady of the empire, preventing the exact same situation that we see in the show: unnecessary tension and power struggles in the harem. It also makes Süleyman out to be far less reasonable than his real counterpart.
- Moreover, in the show, wedding of Süleyman and Hürrem is connected to another historical event, which allows us to date it - that event being circumcission of princes Mustafa, Mehmed and Selim. Now this event actually appears to take place at correct point in the timeline (several years before deaths of Ibrahim and their grandmother, also at least Mehmed looks like he's the right age). It's the date of Süleyman and Hürrem's wedding that's off - aforementioned circumcission took place at 1530, while the couple got married at 1534 (when Ayşe Hafsa died).
- Another mistake in the timeline is Mustafa leaving for Manisa - which happened in 1533, shortly BEFORE Ayşe Hafsa's death. In the show, it's shortly after; although it's still around the same time, so not a huge mistake... Except it makes disputes over who would rule harem after valide sultan's death, which were the main plot of last episodes of season 2, pretty much impossible. So mostly Rule of Drama.
- Since Hürrem's kidnapping plot was, as far as we can tell, invented for the show, it means that the series downplays Süleyman's conscious decision to let his wife stay with him, instead of following one of his sons into the province.
- Mustafa's move from Manisa to Amasya is shown here to be a punishment and demotion, when in reality it might not have been. Amasya wasn't the most prestigious province, but it was closer to borders and thus harder to manage. Its governorship gave Mustafa ample opportunity to prove himself, which was crucial for gaining the support of the troops, and it also showed his father's faith in Mustafa's capabilities. All in all, more of an honor than punishment.
- Mahidevran being responsible for Mehmed's death is... Highly speculative to say the least. There isn't a downright proof against this, but also no evidence to support it. Aside from her motivation being historically dubious (Mustafa's move to Amasya not being a disgrace, as mentioned above), there is no reason to believe Mehmed didn't die of natural causes; smallpox was sadly a common illness at the time, even among healthy young adults. This one is actually a common misconception among people who have seen the show, despite it being invented from the whole cloth for the show; other mistakes (such as Mahidevran being Süleyman's great love before Hürrem came along) appeared in media before the series simply repeated them.
- The show makes a serious error when it has ottoman princes not once, but several times marrying or at least considering a marriage. The first case of this, Mustafa's planned arranged marriage to Aybige is the more egregious one - it would give Mustafa a massive competitive advantage in the fight for throne, which Ayşe Hafsa and Süleyman would have a hard time condoning. Mustafa's marriage to Mihrunissa and Bayezit's marriage to Huricihan at least keep to the spirit of the era by being secret and forbidden by their father, who gets angry when he learns about them. In reality, while not explicitly forbidden, it was virtually unheard of for ottoman princes of the era to marry. Süleyman had just set the precedent for sultans by marrying Hürrem, which was then used by Selim II. (who married Nurbanu) and no other sultan untill Ibrahim I. married his favourite Hümaşah (Osman II. married Akile, but for political reasons and she was a free ottoman woman, which made the match virtually unprecedented in the entire ottoman history anyway).
- One of the ironies of the show vs. history is the Historical Villain Upgrade of Selim, while Bayezid remains more or less decently characterized. It's ironic, because Selim actually survived because he was the meeker, more obedient of the brothers, and thus didn't raise suspicion in his father like Mustafa and never went against him like Bayezid.
