Once upon a time during the 1500's, there was a great man who ruled the Ottoman Empire for 46 years and that man was called: Suleyman the magnificent; he was the sultan of the ottoman empire and the sultan of the seven seas during that time. With his companion Ibrahim, who later became the Grand Vizier (the grand minister of the Ottoman Empire), Suleyman achieved great victory. Suleyman considered Ibrahim as his brother, friend, and advisor. Suleyman's mother was Aysha Hafsa sultan. He also had 4 sisters: Khadija sultan, Fatima sultan, Shah sultan, and bayan sultan. Sultan suleyman was married to 3 women: Fulana, Gulfam, and Mahidevran sultan. Mahidevran sultan gave birth to Suleyman's first and eldest son: Prince Mustafa. Mahidevran sultan was living happily with her son and husband Sultan Suleyman until one woman later comes and steals her joy.

Meanwhile, the daughter of a Ukrainian priest, Alexandra (later Hürrem Sultan), is captured during a Tatar slave raid on her village; her father, mother, and sister are killed in the raid, but her fiance Leo survives and escapes (although she thinks he also died). Her best friend Maria (later Gülnihal) is taken in the same ship. When Alexandra arrives she is taught a lesson: if she becomes a favorite lady and gives birth to a son, she could rise to become a sultana and rule the world. So, to attract his attention, when the Sultan next passes by and all concubines/slaves bow in respect, she calls out his name and then faints into his arms. The other day some slaves are chosen to get Suleyman's attention and who ever will get it, she will be given a purple piece of cloth by the sultan. She becomes the favorite, the Sultan naming her Hürrem. Later she converts to Islam.

Mahidevran, sultan and mother of the Sultan's surviving son Mustafa, becomes obsessively jealous of Hürrem. Blaming Hürrem for her own miscarriage, Mahidevran beats her up badly; when Süleyman finds out, Mahidevran falls even further from his favor.

During Süleyman's campaign against Belgrade, recently married Victoria's husband is killed during their escape. Victoria, later Sadika, goes to Constantinople to take revenge.

Hürrem becomes pregnant with their first son, Prince mohammed. Süleyman calls her to his chambers to eat sweetmeats, but these have been poisoned by Mahidevran. Hürrem eats the sweets and passes out, but Süleyman manages to rescue her. Süleyman's displeasure with Mahidevran increases.

Hürrem becomes pregnant with Süleyman's and her first and only daughter, Mihrimah Sultan. After giving birth she gives a party in the Harem, but then gets in a fight with another favorite, Ayshe Hatun, and threatens to kill her. Sadika kills Ayshe because Ayshe suspects she is up to something, but because Hürrem threatened her and all evidence seems to prove that Hürrem killed her. Süleyman banishes her to the old palace. Ibrahim tells Hürrem that she can come back to the Topkapı Palace if she agrees to says sorry to Mahidrevren Initially Hürrem refuses, but then changes her mind.

Khadija Sultan(Sultan Süleyman's sister)falls in love with Ibrahim Agha (Sultan's best friend). Ibrahim is made the grand vizier of the Ottoman empire. Ibrahim Pasha is married to Khadija Sultan. After that, Hürrem gives birth to a boy Prince Selim and Sultan goes with her on a trip in the forest. Selim remains with Gülnihal.

Then Süleyman goes hunting with Mustafa, Hürrem and Mohammet, but he doesn't take Mahidrevan. Hatice is pregnant meanwhile there's a civil war and during that she loses her child.

Leo, Hürrem's former fiance, finds out where Hürrem is and becomes the royal painter to get close to her. Ibrahim Pasha discovers the truth about their relationship. He tells Hürrem that unless she feeds Leo poisoned Turkish delights, he will tell the Sultan about Leo himself.

Süleyman is in a pavilion outside Ibrahim Pasha's palace, enjoying the view and eating grapes with Sadika serving him. Sadika is seen bringing a tray with a glass of almond juice, but with a dagger concealed beneath it; Hürrem cries as she feeds Leo the poisoned Turkish delights. Süleyman is threatened with a dagger at his throat.

Before Sadıka was able to kill Süleyman, he manages to disarm her and she is sentenced to prison. Later she is killed by Matrakçı who is found guilty for helping her to post messages and killing Sadika is his punishment. Hürrem gives birth to another boy, Bayezid.

Spanish Princess Isabella and her servant are kidnapped by Turkish pirates and sold to Süleyman. They live in isolation in forest in a hunting lodge. Süleyman wants to use them as an advantage when he bargain with European sovereigns. Isabella wants to escape and when she fails several times. Hürrem is jealous and threatens Isabella. Eventually she helps her to escape but the princess is stopped by Ibrahim. Isabella falls in love with Süleyman, she moves into the harem and becomes Süleyman's favorite. Hürrem with the help of Gül, Nigar and Nilüfer succeed in killing her.

Meanwhile Bali Bey falls in love with a Jewish girl called Armin. The relationship is against the will of Armin's father and he makes her leave the city. When she returns, she is gravely ill. Bali Bey eventually marries her with the blessing of her father and next day she dies.

Khadija gives birth to a boy but she accidentally kills him. She leaves her palace and goes to Edirne in order to recover. Meanwhile, Ibrahim once sleeps with Nigar and then he sends her to Topkapi Palace. After some time, Ibrahim leaves for war and Hatice calls Nigar back to her palace. Nigar is in love with Ibrahim. When Ibrahim comes back, Nigar tries to commit suicide but Ibrahim saves her.

Khadija becomes pregnant with twins. Mahidevran gives the Mother Sultan (Sultan Suleyman's mother) Leo's diary about Hürrem, which Gülshah picked up after Hürrem threw it out of window in a desperate attempt to get rid of it. The Mother Sultan calls Hürrem to her chambers, but then the Mother faints. Hürrem calls for help and then she attempts to take the diary. Daye notices it and takes it before Hürrem can. She later gives it to the Mother Sultan and she uses it to make Hürrem Sultan leave. To save herself, Hürrem offers an estate to Daye which she eventually accepts and in exchange Daye gives the diary to Hürrem. When the Valide comes to Hürrem's chambers, Hürrem throws the diary into fire, destroying the only evindence of her and Leo's possible affair.

Hürrem tells Süleyman that she cannot make charity because she is a slave. Süleyman frees her and when he goes to her room for a night, she tells him that she cannot share a bed with him because she is a free woman and her religion forbids her from sharing a bed with a man if she is not married, Süleyman thinks that she did the drama of the charity because she wants to marry him. She is sent to another palace under the orders of the Sultan and the Mother Sultan sets a trap for her, she puts some attackers to kill Hürrem but Bali Bey saves her. She is back to Topkapi Palace and the Sultan decides to marry her.

After marrying Hürrem Sultan, Sultan Süleyman comes to give the Mother Sultan the news of his action, but when Hürrem Sultan tries to kiss her hand she stands up and shows displeasure with his deed which she considers unacceptable. The Mother faints in the Sultan's arms and they take her to her chambers to rest. Mahidevran Sultan becomes surprised then angry, she decided not to lower her head down anymore.

Ibrahim is shot during the ceremony with an arrow and it turns out that it was poisoned. Hürrem is afraid that they would blame her for this because she did send an archer to kill Ibrahim, but she called off the attack at the last minute when she saw Hatice was upset. Ibrahim's attacker was another archer sent by one of the viziers to kill him. The arrow is poisoned and Ibrahim becomes seriously ill. Nigar, Matrakjı and Sümbül travel to heal Ibrahim in one of the hot springs. Khadija is worried because she thinks that Ibrahim will die.

Furious, Mahidevran comes to Süleyman's door and asks his guardian to announce her, but Süleyman refuses to receive her arguing that he is busy. She requests her freedom to spend her life as a free woman which Süleyman denies. She then asks him to send her to exile with her son as happens when princes become of age, but he tells her she can leave, but his son stays with him. Mustafa convinces his father to send them both to Edirne Palace.

At the Mother Sultan's initiative, her niece Aybika comes to Topkapi palace from Crimea, to be protected from the succession infighting between the Mother's brothers upon the death of their father, the Crimean ruler. They tell Aybika to stay away from Hürrem because she could be a bad influence on her, but she is stubborn and Hürrem is known all the way to her homeland so she decides to be friends with her. She falls in love with Bali Bey during this season as he is the one in charge of security of the entire royal family.

Ibrahim falls in love with Nigar because she took care of him during his illness. Nigar Hatun is married to Matrakjı Nasuh Efendi on initiative of Hatice and the Valide Sultan. Nigar is not pleased by her wedding because she is in love with Ibrahim, the Grand Vizier. On her first night in her new house, she is surprised to see Ibrahim entering and he tells her that he and Matrakjı had a deal and that he is the one she will be with from now on. Nigar is happy at this turn of events.

Meanwhile, Khadija gives birth to twins, one boy and one girl (Osman and Hurijihan) and Ibrahim is happy to see her holding both babies in her hands and also surprised. Nigar is not pleased by this.

Time passed and at the age of 17, Mustafa comes back to Topkapi to be with his father until he is sent into exile.

While the Sultan is away at war, the Mother Sultan and Mahidevran conspire against Hürrem. The Mother Sultan places a spy and pretends to let Hürrem lead the harem for a while. During the rebellion provoked by the Mother's spy, Fatma, one of the slaves is accused of stealing gold and the innocent girl burns herself. The slaves take torches and march towards Hürrem's chambers and try to burn her, but Daye and the guardians save her. Daye gets fired for this.

When Sultan comes back and finds out what happened, he gives the Mother Sultan a lecture about how she is not capable of leading the harem and he is tired of all the fights. He is also angry with Ibrahim because he didn't give him Hürrem's letter while they were in the war, but Ibrahim says that he didn't want to worry him and that he has given orders to Daye and Nigar to protect Hürrem ever since Sultan made him responsible for her life. Sultan gives Daye back her post.

Hürrem and Mahidevran fight after Gülshah gets Daye's position and Mahidevran tries to slap her. Süleyman arrives and makes her apologize after which she goes crying to her chambers. Mustafa barges into Hürrem's chambers to talk to his father and they have a huge discussion about the way Hürrem manipulates him after which Süleyman tries to invite Mustafa to his chambers which he refuses. Mustafa almost loses his father's support when he doesn't want to come to Hagia Sofia with him, but Ibrahim manages to make him see reason.

Hürrem gets into a fight with Mustafa, and Süleyman gives Mustafa his place. Hürrem is displeased so they have an argument.

Mustafa falls in love with a concubine named Nora (later Efsun) and she gets pregnant. Mustafa doesn't know that Efsun works for Hürrem Sultan and has orders to poison him. She puts poison in his food, but at the last moment she regrets and trips over the food. Mustafa gets sick, and Mahidevran concludes that it was all Hürrem's doing even though Mustafa didn't drink the poison, he gave it to ahmad the courageous only for him to kill himself for the prince and the country

Fatma Hatun blames Efsun for working for Hürrem so Mahidevran asks her to tell her a secret about Hurrem. Efsun asks Hurrem if she has another plan, Hurrem asks Efsun to tell Mahidevran about Aybika and Bali Bey's affair so that Mustafa and Mahidevran get hurt. When Aybika leaves to go back to her homeland with Bali Bey, Hurrem sends another message using Efsun that both of them are running away and they shall never come back. Mahidevran tells Süleyman about them who sends ships after them to bring them back.

Jihangir, Hürrem's youngest son gets sick, and she doesn't tell Süleyman which infiuriates him, but after seeing his son so sick, he and Hürrem unite and he calls a doctor. Jihangir is developing a hump and they try to fix it by physiotherapy while he is still a baby. Jihangir gets better even though he can't recover fully and Süleyman has a heart attack. Mahidevran is conscious that when Süleyman dies, her son would be the Sultan so she tries to convince Mustafa that he needs to take precautions with his brothers which he refuses. She then talks with Ibrahim, the Mother Sultan hears this and sends Hürrem and her children to Khadija's saray(palace) to protect them. When Süleyman wakes up Mahidevran falls even more from grace.

Meanwhile Bali Bey and Aybika are brought back from the sea and Bali Bey tells the truth to Süleyman infront of Mustafa and Ibrahim. Süleyman asks Mustafa to decide Bali Bey's fate. First Mustafa announces Bali's death but on the day of punishment he forgives him. Bali Bey resigns and returns to his homeland. Aybika also returns to Crimean, her homeland.

Mahidevran finds out that Efsun is pregnant and wants to make her abort, but Mustafa stops her and sends Efsun to his chambers. Hürrem tells the Mother about Efsun's pregnancy and the Mother sends Daye to get rid of the baby. Mustafa doesn't manage to save her this time, and baby and Efsun die. But before her death she warns Mustafa to stay away from Hürrem as Hürrem tried to poison him. Mahidevran tell this to Süleyman who offers poison to her. As Hürrem shows no reluctance in drinking the poison, Süleyman believes that she is innocent. She survives as Süleyman was just testing her with a medicine.

Nigar gets pregnant with Ibrahim's baby. Gülshah intrigued against Daye which caused Daye to kill a healer by accident so they fired her and threw her out of harem. Mahidevran is happy because she thinks Gülşah will get the post again, but is surprised to hear the Valide giving the post to Nigar. Then Mother Sultan finds out about Ibrahim's affair with Nigar Hatun, because Adrees Ağa followed Ibrahim Pasha and told all the relation between Ibrahim and Nigar to the Mother Sultan that's why she wants to fire her. She comes to Süleyman's chambers to inform him, but suffers a stroke before saying anything. She eventually passes away and Mahidevran rules the harem which she immediately uses in her favor to get the Mother's chambers which Süleyman doesn't allow. She also buys many unnecessary things and exceeds the budget and she has to take a loan from a Jewish loan shark. Gülfem is given Daye's former post.

Hürrem wants to get rid of Mahidevran and Mustafa. Mustafa is set on leave to the province of Manisa but Ibrahim convinces Süleyman to let Mahidevran stay in the harem. Hürrem with Gül's help makes a plan that would convict Mahidevran of trying to murder the Valide. However Nigar witnesses Gül's action and tells Ibrahim. Gül is fired for it and leaves the saray.

Gülshah tries to get rid of Mahidevran's maid Fatma but it all turns against her. She is fired and Mahidevran wants her to marry. Desperate, Gülshah wants to be Hürrem's servant but Hürrem sends her away and tells her that she would have no profit from Gülshah being her maid. Gülshah later overhears a conversation between Ibrahim and Nigar about Nigar's pregnancy. She accidentally breaks a vase and Ibrahim and Nigar realize that someone heard them. Gülshah wants to tell Hürrem what she found out but Hürrem isn't in her chamber and Gülshah is driven out of the saray before Hürrem's return. Nigar later realizes that it was Gülshah who overheard her and she tells Ibrahim. Ibrahim orders Gülshah to be killed and she is stabbed several times and left in the wilderness to die. However, she survives and tells Hürrem about Nigar's pregnancy and eventually becomes Hürrem's maid.

After the Mother's death, Daye leaves the saray. She gives all her property to charity and works as a servant of a wealthy woman. Hürrem wants to help her but Daye refuses. Eventually Daye commits suicide.

Nigar is supposed to leave the saray and go to Ibrahim's brother. Hürrem kidnaps her during the journey and hides her. Gülshah takes care of Nigar. Hürrem sends a message to Khadija that Ibrahim is unfaithful and reveals the whereabouts of Nigar. Nigar successfully escapes but Khadija arrives and stops her. She arrests her but Nigar says that the father of her baby is Matrakjı. Matrakjı confirms it. Khadija confronts Hürrem who sends for Gülshah who witnessed Nigar and Ibrahim. Hatice later confronts Ibrahim who admits cheating and being the father of Nigar's baby. Hürrem intrigues against Mahidevran making her look like someone who wanted to strangle Gülfem. Süleyman gives Hürrem the leadership of the harem and the years pass by with everybody bowing to her and Mahidevran looking at her angrily.

After İbrahim's affair with Nigar becomes known, İbrahim leaves the city on a campaign against Persia. After his return he manages to rescue his relationship to Khadija Sultan. Khadija orders Nigar's beheading but Hürrem manages to save her life through Rüstem Ağa, who was a trusted man of Iskender Chelebi and now serves Hürrem Sultan. Nigar gives birth to a child but Khadija hides the child from both İbrahim and Nigar. İbrahim and Hatice decide that Nigar should be married to Rüstem. Against his desire, Rüstem marries Nigar on Hürrem's instruction but does not keep any intimate relationship with her. Firuze, a new girl in the Harem manages to become the first favorite of the Sultan after Hürrem. Conspired by Khadija, the whole Harem tries to save her from Hürrem's revenge.

Mihrimah Sultan is in love with Yahya, Prince Mustafa's closest friend. Mustafa sets out to Manisa where he serves as a Sancak Beyi (Master of the Palace).

Süleyman want to go on a hunting trip but his daughter doesn't want to come because Firuze is coming and not her mother, Hürrem. Hürrem threatens to kill Firuze.

Few years later Hürrem discovers kadar, the secret daughter of nigar and İbrahim. Hürrem notifies İbrahim. Hürrem gives the child to İbrahim.

Fatma Hatun gives birth to a boy. Süleyman goes to Manisa to see Mustafa's son and names the boy Süleyman as his name. Hürrem, Prince Mohammed and Mihrimah also go with Süleyman. Seeing Süleyman's closeness to Mohammed, Mustafa starts feeling threatened by Mohammed. On a secret meeting with İbrahim, the Grand Vizier(Minister) manages to persuade the prince to send Helena away.

While trying to kill Firuze on Hürrem's command, Rüstem finds out that the tattoo on her neck is connected to the Safavid dynasty . He notifies Hürrem, who informs Süleyman and the Sultan decides to send her away.

Hürrem and İbrahim continue struggling against each other. Süleyman is getting suspicious about İbrahim.

Süleyman executes İbrahim and then sends the corpse to İbrahim's palace. Khadija becomes very sad about the death of her beloved and disowns her brother Süleyman. Together Khadija and Mahidevran plan on killing Hürrem by sending Diana, Mahidevran's servant, to murder Hürrem as a revenge, since they see Hürrem responsible for the execution of İbrahim. Shah Sultan decides to stand against Hürrem for her self-interests. Nasuh sends Esma, İbrahim's later daughter, to İbrahim's family as