In the given question, a statement of Assertion is followed by a statement of Reason. Mark the correct answer.

Assertion: After eliminating the taluqdars by passing the Summary Settlement (1856), revenue flows for the state increased and the burden of demand on the peasants declined substantially.

Reason: British officials found out that large areas of Awadh were heavily overassessed: the increase of revenue demand in some places was from 30 to 70 per cent.

The Assertion is incorrect but the Reason is correct.

The correct answer is Option 3: The Assertion is incorrect but the Reason is correct.

Assertion: After eliminating the taluqdars by passing the Summary Settlement (1856), revenue flows for the state increased and the burden of demand on the peasants declined.

This statement of 'Assertion' is only partially correct. British land revenue officers believed that by removing taluqdars they would be able to settle the land with the actual owners of the soil and thus reduce the level of exploitation of peasants while increasing revenue returns for the state. But this did not happen in practice: revenue flows for the state increased but the BURDEN of demand on the peasants DID NOT DECLINE.

Reason: British officials found out that large areas of Awadh were heavily overassessed: the increase of revenue demand in some places was from 30 to 70 per cent. The reason is correct.

NCERT Text: The British land revenue policy undermined the position and authority of the taluqdars. After annexation of Awadh, the first British revenue settlement, known as the Summary Settlement of 1856, was based on the assumption that the taluqdars were interlopers with no permanent stakes in land: they had established their hold over land through force and fraud. The Summary Settlement proceeded to remove the taluqdars wherever possible. Figures show that in pre-British times, taluqdars had held 67 per cent of the total number of villages in Awadh; by the Summary Settlement this number had come down to 38 per cent. The taluqdars of southern Awadh were the hardest hit and some lost more than half of the total number of villages they had previously held.

British land revenue officers believed that by removing taluqdars they would be able to settle the land with the actual owners of the soil and thus reduce the level of exploitation of peasants while increasing revenue returns for the state. But this did not happen in practice: revenue flows for the state increased but the burden of demand on the peasants did not decline. Officials soon found that large areas of Awadh were actually heavily overassessed: the increase of revenue demand in some places was from 30 to 70 per cent (REASON). Thus neither taluqdars nor peasants had any reasons to be happy with the annexation.