The book is a sufficiently strange one at first sight; and it is perhaps no great wonder that uncritical readers should have been bewildered by the bristling quotations from utterly forgotten authorities which, with full and careful reference for the most part, stud its pages, by its elaborate but apparently futile marshalling in "partitions" and "members," in "sections" and "subsections," and by the measureless license of digression which the author allows himself.
"A History of English Literature Elizabethan Literature"
George Saintsbury
They are either divided into a large number of sections, or into a few gotras, usually twelve, each of which is further split up into subsections.
"The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India Volume II"
R. V. Russell
The gotras or main sections appear to be frequently named after Brahman Rishis or saints, while the subsections have names of a territorial or titular character.
"The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India Volume II"
R. V. Russell