Narratology, as an approach to the study of narrative, has increasingly been applied to visual texts. The illustrated Mughal Hamzanama, one of the major examples of Mughal miniature painting, is based on a verbal narrative and offers potential for examining the organization of time in visual representation. Despite numerous studies of its artistic, historical, and cultural dimensions, the visual organization of time in its paintings has received comparatively limited attention. This study identifies the visual mechanisms through which narrative time is constructed and asks how time is organized in its pictorial narratives. The theoretical framework draws on classical narratology, particularly Gérard Genette’s concepts of order, duration, and frequency, together with Seymour Chatman’s distinction between story and discourse. Order is examined through compositional axes, spatial sequencing, and relationships among visual elements; duration through the compression or expansion of events and visual rhythm; and frequency through the repetition of figures, movements, and motifs. Chatman’s distinction between story and discourse provides a basis for examining how events are selected and presented. The study employs a qualitative, descriptive-analytical methodology. Two paintings, The Killing of Marco by the Masked Youth and The Flight of Zamurrad Shah to Antalya, were purposively selected because of their complex narrative structures and potential for examining temporality. The analysis involved identifying narrative elements and visual signs, examining compositional and spatial structures, and interpreting the findings through narratological concepts.

The findings show that time in the selected paintings follows a multitemporal and non-linear logic. The linear sequence of the verbal narrative is transformed into spatial relationships, while composition plays a central role in temporalizing pictorial narrative. In The Killing of Marco by the Masked Youth, the diagonal and dynamic compositional axis guides the viewer’s gaze across different narrative situations and establishes sequence through relationships among figures and actions. The fallen figure in the foreground, the confrontation between the two warriors in the middle ground, and the movement of the fleeing soldiers evoke an earlier stage, the focal moment, and the aftermath of the event, respectively. Thus, several temporal situations are integrated within one frame. By contrast, the vertical axis in The Flight of Zamurrad Shah to Antalya produces an ascending visual experience, demonstrating how spatial orientation can contribute to the formation of temporal experience. Duration is manifested through the compression of several events within a single frame and the omission of segments of the verbal narrative. This requires the viewer to reconstruct relationships among different parts of the image. In the first painting, the connections between the fallen figure, the confrontation between the warriors, and the fleeing soldiers require perceptual and mental movement across the pictorial field. In the second painting, the vertical extension and indeterminate limits of the depicted space create an experience of continuous and seemingly unbounded time. Duration in the static image is shaped by event representation, spatial organization, and the management of the viewer’s gaze. Frequency creates narrative continuity and rhythm through repeated waves, figures, movements, and gestures. In the second painting, the repetition of similar actions performed by Zamurrad Shah and his companions suggests an ongoing and processual form of action. Repetition therefore functions not merely decoratively but as a narrative device for constructing temporal continuity and movement. From Chatman’s discourse-oriented perspective, pictorial organization is not determined solely by aesthetic considerations but also by the selection and presentation of events within the literary and cultural contexts of the Persian-Indian artistic milieu. Time in these paintings is not merely a representation of the flow of events but may also carry symbolic, sacred, and semantic dimensions. This feature is particularly evident in The Flight of Zamurrad Shah to Antalya, where the vertical structure and ascending movement of the composition reinforce an interpretation of temporality associated with spiritual elevation. Overall, narrative time is constructed through visual organization, spatial relationships, repetition, and the direction of the viewer’s gaze. By transforming temporal sequence into spatial organization, pictorial discourse contributes to the formation of temporal experience and meaning.

The study concludes that the paintings of the Hamzanama should not be understood merely as representations of isolated narrative moments. Through the selection of focal moments, juxtaposition of different narrative stages, and organization of spatial relationships, they construct a temporal structure within a single pictorial field. The viewer consequently plays an active role in reconstructing relations among events and temporal perception. This approach also highlights how the static image can accommodate successive moments without reproducing the verbal narrative as a linear sequence. In this process, visual space becomes an active component of narrative construction. A narratological approach thus makes it possible to move beyond the description of formal elements and examine how they function in the production of narrative, time, and meaning. The findings demonstrate the potential of narratology for revealing mechanisms of temporality and clarifying the relationship between verbal narrative and pictorial discourse.