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

Assertion: From the texts of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, it can be said that Zamindar's relationship with the peasantry lacked an element of reciprocity, paternalism, and patronage.

Reason: The bhakti saints, who eloquently condemned caste-based and other forms of oppression, did not portray the zamindars as exploiters or oppressors of the peasantry.

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: From the texts of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, it can be said that Zamindar's relationship with the peasantry lacked an element of reciprocity, paternalism, and patronage. (Incorrect)

Reason: The bhakti saints, who eloquently condemned caste-based and other forms of oppression, did not portray the zamindars as exploiters or oppressors of the peasantry. (Correct)

CORRECTION in Assertion: From the texts of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, it can be said that Zamindar's relationship with the peasantry HAD an element of reciprocity, paternalism, and patronage.

Zamindar's relationship with the peasantry had an element of reciprocity, paternalism, and patronage. Two aspects reinforce this view. First, the bhakti saints, who eloquently condemned caste-based and other forms of oppression, did not portray the zamindars (or, interestingly, the moneylender) as exploiters or oppressors of the peasantry. Usually, it was the revenue official of the state who was the object of their ire.

Second, in a large number of agrarian uprisings which erupted in north India in the seventeenth century, zamindars often received the support of the peasantry in their struggle against the state.