Blinding has been used as an act of vengeance and torture in some instances, to deprive a person of a major sense by which they can navigate or interact within the world, act fully independently, and be aware of events surrounding them. An example from the classical realm is Oedipus, who gouges out his own eyes after realizing that he fulfilled the awful prophecy spoken of him. Having crushed the Bulgarians, the Byzantine Emperor Basil II blinded as many as 15,000 prisoners taken in the battle, before releasing them. Contemporary examples include the addition of methods such as acid throwing as a form of disfigurement. Genetic defects
People with albinism often have vision loss to the extent that many are legally blind, though few of them actually cannot see. Leber congenital amaurosis can cause total blindness or severe sight loss from birth or early childhood. Retinitis pigmentosa is characterized by decreased peripheral vision and trouble seeing at night. Advances in mapping of the human genome have identified other genetic causes of low vision or blindness. Two such examples are Bardet–Biedl syndrome . Poisoning
Rarely, blindness is caused by the intake of certain chemicals. A well-known example is methanol, which is only mildly toxic and minimally intoxicating, and breaks down into the substances formaldehyde and formic acid which in turn can cause blindness, an array of other health complications, and death. When competing with ethanol for metabolism, ethanol is metabolized first, and the onset of toxicity is delayed.
AD 1400), Indian Sufi saint
Zarsanga (or Zar Sanga, born 1946), Pakistani Pashto folk singer

Other uses
Zār, or Zaar, a demon or spirit in the Horn of Africa and adjacent regions of the Middle East
Zar, a band featuring John Lawton
Zar, a fictional land in "The White Ship" by H. P. Lovecraft
Zar Points, a statistical method for evaluating hands in contract bridge
Rincón Zapotec, a language of Mexico, ISO 639-3 code zar
South African rand, the currency of South Africa, ISO 4217 code ZAR

See also
All pages with titles beginning with Zar
All pages with titles containing Zar
Zaar (disambiguation)
Żar (disambiguation)
Tsar (disambiguation)
Zar und Zimmermann, a comic opera