Scorched by fire, stained by water, and inscribed in cramped handwriti

Scorched by fire, stained by water, and inscribed in cramped handwriting, the seventeenth-century Dutch documents on the beginnings of New York City were long ignored by historians, depending instead on English sources for information.

(A) the seventeenth-century Dutch documents on the beginnings of New York City were long ignored by historians, depending --- the adverbial modifier ", depending" does not synchronize with the subject of the previous clause namely 'the documents'.
(B) the seventeenth-century Dutch documents on the beginnings of New York City were long ignored by historians, who depended -- The correct choice.
(C) historians long ignored the seventeenth-century Dutch documents on the beginnings of New York City, depending --- the modification is wrong . Choice says the historians were scorched and stained and inscribed.
(D) historians long ignored the seventeenth-century Dutch documents on the beginnings of New York City and depended -- the same problem as in C
(E) historians long ignored the seventeenth-century Dutch documents on the beginnings of New York City, they depended -- the same problem as in D and in addition, this is a comma splice.

gvij2017
option B would be correct because “who depended” correctly modifies historians.. where as in option A “depending” modifies “seventeenth-century Dutch Documents”
hope this helps

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