The makers of Turkish drama “Diriliş: Ertuğrul” have said the team is overwhelmed after the series generated a huge reaction with its Urdu-dubbed version currently being aired in Pakistan on Prime Minister Imran Khan’s recommendation.
GEO reports that the director of digital for Turkish Radio & Television (TRT), Riyaad Minty, spoke to BBC Urdu about the success of the drama in the South Asian nation.
“Ertuğrul has gone viral in Pakistan and its episodes are trending on YouTube in Pakistan every day,” Minty said, adding that there are more than 30 million views and over 600,000 subscribers on the Youtube channel.
“However, with growing popularity, these numbers are expected to climb up in the coming days,” he added.
Prime Minister Imran had already recommended that Pakistani youth watch it, saying: “Pakistani youth can learn about Islamic history and ethics by watching the Turkish drama.”
Originally produced by the Turkish state-owned media company TRT in collaboration with a private company, the historic drama was later dubbed into various languages and was streamed online around the world.
The series depicts the pre-history of the Ottoman Empire, chronicling the adventures of the nomadic Kayi Oghuz Turkic tribe, led by Ertugrul, the father of Osman I, the founder of the Ottoman Empire.
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According to Ottoman tradition, Ertugrul was the son of Suleyman Shah, leader of the Kayı tribe of Oghuz Turks, who fled from western Central Asia to Anatolia to escape the Mongol conquests.
After the death of his father, Ertuğrul and his followers entered the service of the Seljuks of Rum, for which he was rewarded with dominion over the town of Söğüt on the frontier with the Byzantine Empire. This set off the chain of events that would ultimately lead to the founding of the Ottoman Empire. Like his son, Osman, and their descendants, Ertuğrul is often referred to as a Ghazi, a heroic champion fighter for the cause of Islam.
Diriliş: Ertuğrul is also available with English subtitles on Netflix and YouTube which has contributed to its popularity beyond Turkey.
