Dougla people (plural Dougla’s) is the term used to describe Caribbean people who are of mixed Afro-Caribbean and Indo-Caribbean.
Definition
The word
Dougla originated from
dogala (दोगला), which is a Caribbean Hindustani word that literally means "two-necks" and may mean "many", "much" or "a mix".
Its etymological roots are cognate with the Hindi "do" meaning "two" and "gala", which means "throat". Within the West Indies context, the word is used only for one type of mixed race people: Afro-Indians.
The 2012 Guyana census identified 29.25% of the population as Afro-Guyanese, 39.83% as Indo-Guyanese, and 19.88% as "mixed," recognized as mostly representing the offspring of the former two groups.
In the French West Indies (Guadeloupe, Martinique), the few Afro-Indian people used to be referred to as Batazendyen or Chapé-Kouli, while in Haiti they were called Marabou.
History
There are sporadic records of Indo-Euro interracial relationships, both consensual and nonconsensual, before any ethnic mixing of the African and Indian variety.
Other Indo-based types of mixed heritage (Indo-Chinese (Chindians), Indo-Latino/Hispanic (Tegli), Indo-English (), Indo-Portuguese (), Indo-Irish (Irish Indians), Indo-Scottish (), Indo-Dutch people, Indo-Arabs and Indo-Amerindian) tended to identify as one of the older, unmixed ethnic strains on the island: Afro, Indo, Amerindian or Euro or passing as one of them.
In Trinidad culture
In 1961, the
calypso music musician
Mighty Dougla (born Cletus Ali) described the predicament of Douglas:
Notable Douglas
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Mighty Dougla, Trinidadian musician, better known as Mighty Dougla
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Tatyana Ali, Indo-Trinidadian/Afro-Panamanian American actress
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Nicki Minaj, Trinidadian music artist
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David Chariandy, Canadian author with Trinidadian parents
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Andre Rampersad, Trinidadian footballer
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Sunil Narine, Trinidadian cricket player
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Frances-Anne Solomon, British-Canadian filmmaker with Trinidadian parent’s
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Machel Montano, Trinidadian soca artist
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Trevor McDonald, Trinidadian British news anchor and journalist
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Mervyn Dymally, Trinidadian-American politician
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Kenny J, calypsonian
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Rajee Narinesingh, LGBT activist (United States; Trinidadian and Tobagonian background)
[Rajee Narinesingh]
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Eddy Grant, Guyanese people singer
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Gema Ramkeesoon, social worker and women'
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Rohit Jagdeo, Guyanese politician
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Melanie Fiona, Canadians artist with Guyanese parents
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Esther Anderson, actress (United Kingdom; born in Jamaica)
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Nicole Beharie, actress
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Johnson Beharry, Grenadian British soldier in the British Army
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Melissa Bell, Jamaican-British singer and mother of Alexandra Burke
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Katharine Birbalsingh, teacher and education reformer
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Diego Biseswar, Surinamese footballer
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Foxy Brown, rapper (United States; Trinidadian and Tobagonian background)
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Alexandra Burke, British-Jamaican singer and daughter of Melissa Bell
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Super Cat, Jamaican deejay
[Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) The Rough Guide to Reggae, Rough Guides, , p. 286]
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Joseph Charles (born Serjad Makmadeen), founder of the Solo Beverage Company
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Tanya Chutkan, jurist and lawyer
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Special Ed, rapper (United States; Jamaican background)
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Indira Etwaroo, stage producer and director
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Melanie Fiona, Canadian singer
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Marlene Malahoo Forte, politician (Jamaica)
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[ Comparative studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, Vols 17–8, Duke University Press, 1997, p. 124.]
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Masaba Gupta, actress and fashion designer (Antiguan and Indian)
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Lisa Hanna, Miss World 1993, MP for Saint Ann South Eastern
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Kamala Harris, Vice-President of the United States (Jamaican and Indian)
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Maya Harris, lawyer and writer (Jamaican and Indian)
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Lester Holt, U.S. news anchor and journalist
[ Today Show: "Lester and Jenna trace their Jamaican roots" Aired on September 9, 2012 ]
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Diana King, singer (United States; born in Jamaica)
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Jeffery Kissoon, actor
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Vashtie Kola, music-video director
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Sonnet L'Abbé, Guyanese Canadian poet
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Darryl Lachman, footballer (Netherlands; Curaçaoan and Surinamese background)
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Rajendra Ramoon Maharaj, playwright
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Nicole Narain, model and actress
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Furdjel Narsingh, footballer (Netherlands; Surinamese background)
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Luciano Narsingh, footballer (Netherlands; Surinamese background)
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Roxanne Persaud, politician (United States; born in Guyana)
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Thara Prashad, American singer and model
[[2] ]
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Prince Rajcomar, footballer (Netherlands; Curaçaoan and Surinamese background)
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Mary Rambaran-Olm, literary scholar specializing in early medieval England from the fifth to eleventh centuries
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Andre Rampersad, Trinidadian footballer
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Nick Sagar, United Kingdom actor and model
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Sean Sagar, British actor and model
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Kenneth Salick, chutney soca singer
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Krishmar Santokie, cricketer
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Edward Seaga, banker, businessman, politician and former
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Abrahim Simmonds, youth advocate (Jamaica)
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Toni-Ann Singh, Miss World 2019 (Jamaica)
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Justine Skye, entertainer (Jamaica)
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XXXTentacion, rapper
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Joyce Vincent, British woman whose death went unnoticed for over two years (Grenadian of black and Indian ancestry)
See also
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Indo-African (disambiguation)
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Indo-Trinidadian and Tobagonian
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Afro-Trinidadian and Tobagonian
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Indo-Caribbean
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Afro-Caribbean
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Marabou (ethnicity)
Further reading
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Barratt, Sue A, and Aleah N. Ranjitsingh. Dougla in the Twenty-First Century: Adding to the Mix. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2021. . See also CUNY Asian and Asian American Research Institute author interview on 19 November 2021.
