In Hindu society, the term gotra (Sanskrit: गोत्र) means clan. It broadly refers to people who are descendants in an unbroken male line from a common male ancestor or patriline. Generally the gotra forms an exogamous unit, with the marriage within the same gotra being prohibited by custom, being regarded as incest. The name of the gotra can be used as a surname, but it is different from a surname and is strictly maintained because of its importance in marriages among Hindus, especially among the higher castes. Pāṇini defines "gotra" for grammatical purposes as apatyam pautraprabhrti gotram (IV. 1. 162), which means "the word gotra denotes the progeny (of a sage) beginning with the son's son." When a person says "I am Kashyapa-gotra," he means that he traces his descent from the ancient sage Kashyapa by unbroken male descent. Among non-Brahmins, the gotras generally do not go back to sages, except in case of some communities such as Rajputs.
According to the Brihadaranyaka Upanisad 2.2.6, Gautama and Bharadvāja, Viśvāmitra and Jamadagni, Vashishtha and Kaśhyapa and Shandilya are seven sages (also known as Saptarishi); the progeny of these seven sages is declared to be gotras. This enumeration of seven primary gotras seems to have been known to Pāṇini. The offspring (apatya) of these seven are gotras and others than these are called gotrâvayava.
Gothra is a village on the Rewari-Narnaul road 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from Rewari in Rewari district in the Indian state of Haryana. It is also named as Gothara Tappa Khori. A village of similar name exists in Jatusana block named Gothara Tappa Dahina.and suryodaya sr. sec. school ,mamria thethar is near by school.
As of 2011 India census, Gothra had a population of 2,606 in 549 households. Males (1,324) constitute 50.8% of the population and females (1,282) 49.19%. Gothara has an average literacy (1,789) rate of 68.64%, less than the national average of 74%: male literacy (1,052) is 58.8%, and female literacy (737) is 41.19% of total literates (1,789). In Gothra, 12.47% of the population is under 6 years of age (325).
Gothra Bhukaran is a village in Sikar district in Rajasthan. The village has a total population of about 700 out of which 500 families belong to Bhukar gotra Jats. The other Jat gotras in the village are Vijayrania, Kajala, Koka etc.