The Batlôkwa kingdom is part of the larger group of Bakgatla people, which is one of sub-divisions of the Bantu-speaking Tswana peoples. These different groups are often classified for convenience as 'Sotho-Tswana'. This is because, from an early stage of their history, they shared a number of linguistic and cultural characteristics that distinguished them from other Bantu-speakers of southern Africa. Most prominent was mutually intelligible dialects. Other features included totemism, preferential marriage of maternal cousins with the exception to Batlokwa who prefer marrying their paternal cousins, and an architectural style characterized by a round hut with a conical thatch roof supported by wooden pillars on the outside. Other commonalities included a style skin cloaks called "mekgatlha", dense and close village settlements larger than those of 'Nguni' peoples, and a tradition of building in stone in less grassy or wooded regions.