Kingdoms of Fire | |
---|---|
ممالك النار | |
Genre | Historical drama |
Created by | Muhammed Abdulmalik |
Directed by | Peter Webber |
Country of origin | Egypt Tunisia United Arab Emirates |
Original language | Arabic |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 14 |
Production | |
Running time | 50–60 minutes |
Production company | Genomedia Studios |
Original release | |
Release | 17 November 9 December 2019 | –
Kingdoms of Fire ( Arabic: ممالك النار, romanized: Mamalik Al-Nar) is an Arabic historical drama television series about the reign of Ottoman Empire's Selim I and Mamluk Sultanate's Tuman bay II, created by Muhammed Abdulmalik and directed by British director Peter Webber. [1]
The 14-episodes series is produced by Genomedia Studios with a budget of $40 million, financed and supported by the government of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the originator of the movie, and filmed in Tunisia, debuted on MBC channels on 17 November 2019. [2] [3]
Fatima Bhutto of Foreign Policy wrote that the show is "an expensive salvo against Turkey’s cultural neo-Ottomanism" and that the director was chosen for "added cachet". [4]
The series depicts events that took place between Egypt, Syria and the Ottoman Empire between the 15th and the 16th century. It demonstrates the competition between the Mamluks and the Ottomans over the control of the Middle East, through the rise of two main characters, Tuman bay II, the last Sultan of the Mamluks in Cairo, and Sultan Selim I of Istanbul. [5]
Bhutto, a Pakistani journalist, stated in 2020 that the show in terms of an anti-Ottomanist production "has apparently failed; no one seems to be watching" in Pakistan. [4]
Multiple comments from the Turkish side after the episodes aired characterized the show as harassment targeted at Turkey and as anti-Ottoman, reflecting recent tensions between Turkey and both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates; [6] This was during a time when Turkey had been trying to assert its Ottoman identity and its rule over Arabs. [7]
'Mamalik al-Nar'...It cast the early Ottomans not as benevolent overlords, as they are often portrayed in Arab historiography, but as harsh occupiers. Saudi television takes its cue from the government; the series was seen as an effort to sour public opinion against Turkey.