Assertion (A): In the most advanced of traditional civilizations, most people were engaged in working on the land.

Reason (R):   In such societies there was a relatively low level of technological development.

Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.

The correct answer is Option 1: Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.

Assertion (A): In the most advanced of traditional civilizations, most people were engaged in working on the land. — Correct. Traditional societies were mainly based on agriculture, and even highly developed traditional civilisations depended on farming as the primary occupation for the majority of their population.

Reason (R): In such societies there was a relatively low level of technological development. — Correct. Traditional societies had limited technological advancement compared to industrial societies. This meant agricultural production depended largely on human and animal labour, resulting in a large proportion of people working on the land.

Assertion–Reason Relationship: Reason correctly explains the Assertion. The limited technological development in traditional societies meant that agriculture remained labour-intensive, so most people continued to be engaged in farming activities.

NCERT: Industrialisation refers to the emergence of machine production, based on the use of inanimate power resources like steam or electricity. In most standard western textbook of sociology, we learn that in even the most advanced of traditional civilizations, most people were engaged in working on the land. The relatively low level of technological development did not permit more than a small minority to be freed from the chores of agricultural production. By contrast, a prime feature of industrial societies today is that a large majority of the employed population work in factories, offices or shops rather than agriculture. Over 90 per cent of people in the west live in towns and cities, where most jobs are to be found and new job opportunities are created. Not surprisingly, therefore, we usually associate urbanisation with industrialisation. They often do occur together but not always so.