Seating that runs along the walls is the oldest arrangement there is for a room where people gather, and it survives across cultures for one practical reason: it puts everybody in one circle. Chairs and separate sofas create fronts and backs, and someone always ends up looking at the back of somebody's head. A continuous run around two or three walls means every person can see every other person, which is the entire point of a room used for company.
Low backs are part of the same logic. A tall sofa back cuts sightlines across a room and makes conversation across the corner impossible; keeping the back low and adding bolsters gives support without building a wall.
Building it in sections rather than as one enormous piece is our practical contribution. Sections can be carried through a doorway, replaced individually if one is ever damaged, and rearranged if you move to a room with different proportions. Our master Indian artisans match the carving and the buttoning grid across every section so the run reads as continuous, even though it is not.