Really speaking the Mizo people are an ethnic group native to north-eastern India, western Burma and eastern Bangladesh who speak any of various Kukish languages. The present Indian state of Mizoram was called the Lushai Hills and was a district of Assam, before it became a Union Territory and afterwards a full-fledged state. The Lusei people were the first Mizo people to have an external exposure and hence the ethnicity was initially known as the Lushai people. The demand for a distinct political territory for the people of Lushai Hills resulted in the creation of a separate Union Territory and afterwards the State of Mizoram. In this struggle, one of the powerful factors was the movement to call themselves Mizo, rather than by distinct clan names such as Paite, Lushei, Ralte, Gangte, Mara, Pawi, Hmar etc. Their languages belong to the Tibeto-Burman, their brethren are the Chins in the adjacent Chin State of Burma, as well as those of the Kukis.