sages or  kshatriyas  (warriors) who chose to become Brahmins. The eight major gotras that trace descent from sages are:  Kanva ,  Jamadagni , Bharadvâja ,  Gautama ,  Atri ,  Vasishtha ,  Kashyapa  and  Agastya  gotra. Two gotras that trace descent from kshatriyas are  Harita  and  Vishvamitra  gotra. In general,  gotra  denotes