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{{Short description|Caribbean people of mixed African and Indian descent}}
{{EngvarB|date=December 2019}}
{{EngvarB|date=December 2019}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group         = Dougla people
| group           = Dougla people
| image         =  
| image           =
| population     =  
| image_caption    =  
| regions       = [[Caribbean]], notably in [[Trinidad and Tobago]], [[Guyana]], [[Jamaica]] and [[Suriname]]
| population       =
| languages     = [[English language|English]], [[French language|French]], [[Dutch language|Dutch]], [[Caribbean Hindustani]]
| regions         = [[Caribbean]]<br>(notably in [[Trinidad and Tobago]], [[Guyana]], [[Suriname]], [[Jamaica]], [[Saint Lucia]], [[Grenada]],[[Guadeloupe]], and [[Martinique]])<br>
| religions     = '''Predominantly''': {{hlist|[[Christianity]]}} '''Minority''': {{hlist|[[Hinduism]], [[Islam]], [[African diaspora religions|Afro-American religions]], [[Irreligion]]}}
Diaspora in the [[United States]], the [[United Kingdom]], [[Canada]], and the [[Netherlands]]
| related_groups = [[Afro-Caribbean people|Afro-Caribbeans]], [[Indo-Caribbeans]]
| languages       = [[Caribbean English]] (predominantly [[Trinidadian Creole]], [[Guyanese Creole]], [[Sranan Tongo]], [[Jamaican Patois]], [[Saint Lucian Creole]]), [[French language|French]], [[Dutch language|Dutch]], [[Papiamento]], [[Caribbean Hindustani]]
| footnotes     =  
| religions       = {{hlist|[[Christianity]]|[[Hinduism]]|[[Islam]]|[[African diaspora religions|Afro-American religions]]|[[Irreligion]]}}
| related_groups   = [[Afro-Caribbean people|Afro-Caribbeans]], [[Indo-Caribbean people|Indo-Caribbeans]]
| footnotes       =
}}
}}


'''Dougla people''' (plural ''Douglas'') are Caribbean people who are of mixed [[Afro-Caribbean people|African]] and [[Indo-Caribbeans|South Asian]] descent. The word ''Dougla'' (also '''Dugla''' or '''Dogla''') is used throughout the Dutch and [[Commonwealth Caribbean|English-speaking Caribbean]].
'''Dougla''' ({{IPAc-en|lang|ˈ|d|oʊ|g|l|ə}} {{endash}} from [[Caribbean Hindustani]] {{lang|hns|dugalaa}} 'mixed') is a term used to describe people who are of mixed [[Afro-Caribbean people|African]] and [[Indo-Caribbean people|Indian]] descent.


==Definition==
==Definition==
The word ''Dougla'' originated from '''doogala''' ({{lang|hns|दुगला}}), which is a [[Caribbean Hindustani]] word that may mean "many", "much" or "a mix".<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=__id65WNktsC&q=doogala+meaning&pg=PT134|title=Rice and Beans: A Unique Dish in a Hundred Places|last1=Wilk|first1=Richard|last2=Barbosa|first2=Livia|date=2013-05-09|publisher=Berg|isbn=9781847889058|language=en}}</ref> Some of the connotations of the word such as [[Legitimacy (family law)|bastard]], illegitimate and son of a whore are secondary and limited to sections of [[North India]] where the term may have originated.<ref>Sanksipt Hindu Shabdasagar</ref> In the West Indies, the word is used only for Afro-Indo [[multiracial people|mixed race]],<ref>{{cite book|title=Dictionary of the English/Creole of Trinidad & Tobago|first=Lise|last=Winer|publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press|location=Montreal|date=2009|isbn=978-0-7735-3406-3|page=311}}</ref> despite its origin as a word used to describe inter-caste mixing. The word has its etymological roots in the Hindi, where "do" means two and "gala" means "throat". The word might have been used as a way to refer to people who could speak Indian and African languages.
The word ''Dougla'' originated from '''dogala''' ({{lang|hns|दोगला}}), which is a [[Caribbean Hindustani]] word that literally means "two-necks" and may mean "many", "much" or "a mix" (literally bastard, of two fathers).<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=__id65WNktsC&q=doogala+meaning&pg=PT134|title=Rice and Beans: A Unique Dish in a Hundred Places|last1=Wilk|first1=Richard|last2=Barbosa|first2=Livia|date=2013-05-09|publisher=Berg|isbn=9781847889058|language=en}}</ref> 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 [[multiracial people|mixed race]] people: Afro-Indians.<ref>{{cite book|title=Dictionary of the English/Creole of Trinidad & Tobago|first=Lise|last=Winer|publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press|location=Montreal|date=2009|isbn=978-0-7735-3406-3|page=311}}</ref>


In [[Guyana]], [[Afro-Guyanese people|Afro-Guyanese]] and [[Indo-Guyanese]] make up half of the population and Douglas number 15% of the country's demographics.
The 2012 Guyana census identified 29.25% of the population as [[Afro-Guyanese people|Afro-Guyanese]], 39.83% as [[Indo-Guyanese]], and 19.88% as "mixed," recognized as mostly representing the offspring of the former two groups.<ref>{{Cite report |url=https://statisticsguyana.gov.gy/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Final_2012_Census_Compendium2.pdf |title=2012 Census Compendium 2: Computation Composition |last=Bureau of Statistics, Guyana |date=July 2016 |access-date=2022-12-04 |archive-date=2021-01-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210105002255/https://statisticsguyana.gov.gy/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Final_2012_Census_Compendium2.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>


In the [[French West Indies]] ([[Guadeloupe]], [[Martinique]]), mixed Afro-Indian people used to be called Batazendien or Chapé-Coolie, those who have escaped the disagreeable Indian condition by becoming hybrid.
In the [[French West Indies]] ([[Guadeloupe]], [[Martinique]]), Afro-Indian people used to be referred to as '''Batazendyen''' or '''Chapé-Kouli.'''
 
In the French West Indies they are now treated in a more positive way by other categories of the population and no longer face the cruel existential dilemma of post-slavery times. The uncommon phenomenon of mutual acceptance and cultural exchange now attained, called by some "the Guadeloupe Model", has widely contributed to the rare harmony of the multiracial French West Indian communities.{{Citation needed|date=March 2021}}


==History==
==History==
There are sporadic records of Indo-Euro interracial relationships, both consensual and nonconsensual, before any ethnic mixing of the African and Indian variety. Women were a rarity among earlier Indian migrants. Many did not take the [[Indian indenture system|voyage across the Atlantic]] for several reasons, among them the fear of [[Exploitation of labour|exploitation]] and the assumption that they were unfit for labour.<ref>https://www.uohyd.ernet.in/sss/indian_diaspora/oc2.pdf{{dead link|date=December 2016|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref>
There are sporadic records of Indo-Euro interracial relationships, both consensual and nonconsensual, before any ethnic mixing of the African and Indian variety.<ref>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=--j6DAAAQBAJ|title= The Trinidad Dougla: Identity, Ethnicity and Lexical Choice|isbn= 9781443898997|last1= Regis|first1= Ferne Louanne|date= 17 August 2016|publisher= Cambridge Scholars}}</ref>
 
Socio-religious practice played a part as [[Purusharthas|religious practices]] are paramount to the [[Hinduism|Hindu religion]] and preservation of the religion and culture was of extreme importance to the indentured labourers in a hostile and prejudice environment towards them. Similar to this is the Muslim community's cultural requirements as per the [[Caste system among South Asian Muslims]]. Association with those outside the community who engaged in ''[[Adharma|adharmic]]'' and ''[[Tamas (philosophy)|tamasic]]'' practices (for [[Hindus]]) and ''[[haram]]'' practices (for [[Muslims]]) was considered to compromise their religion and culture, seen as necessary for survival in the foreign land.
 
The second reason was socio-economic. The arrival of Indians to the [[British West Indies|British Caribbean]] was not meant to be permanent. For most of the Indian immigrants, the aim was to gain material wealth under contract, then return to their respective homelands. The Dougla represented the postponement and deferral of that goal if not rendering it completely impossible, being a living symbol of departure from cultural custom [[jatis]].
 
Other Indo-based types of mixed heritage (Indo-Chinese ([[Chindians]]), [[Asian Latin Americans|Indo-Latino/Hispanic]] (Tegli), Indo-English ([[Anglo-Indian]]s), Indo-Portuguese ([[Luso-Indian]]s), Indo-Irish ([[Irish Indians]]), Indo-Scottish ([[Scottish-Indian]]s), Indo-[[Dutch people|Dutch]], [[Arabs in India|Indo-Arabs]] and Indo-[[Kalinago|Carib]]) tended to identify as one of the older, unmixed ethnic strains on the island: Afro, Indo, Amerindian or Euro or [[Passing (sociology)|passing as one of them]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.trinidadandtobagonews.com/forum/webbbs_config.pl?md=read;id=2849|title=Dougla dilemma|website=www.trinidadandtobagonews.com}}</ref>


==In Trinidad culture==
Other Indo-based types of mixed heritage (Indo-Chinese ([[Chindians]]), [[Asian Latin Americans|Indo-Latino/Hispanic]] (Tegli), Indo-English ([[Anglo-Indian]]s), Indo-Portuguese ([[Luso-Indian]]s), Indo-Irish ([[Irish Indians]]), Indo-Scottish ([[Scottish-Indian]]s), Indo-[[Dutch people|Dutch]], Indo-[[Arabs]] and Indo-[[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Amerindian]]) tended to identify as one of the older, unmixed ethnic strains on the island: Afro, Indo, Amerindian or Euro or [[Passing (sociology)|passing as one of them]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.trinidadandtobagonews.com/forum/webbbs_config.pl?md=read;id=2849|title=Dougla dilemma|website=www.trinidadandtobagonews.com}}</ref>
One [[calypso music|calypsonian]], the [[Mighty Dougla]] (Clatis Ali), described the predicament of Douglas in the 1960s:{{citation needed|date=July 2013}}
 
{{poemquote|"''If they sending Indians to India''
''And Africans back to Africa''
''Well somebody please just tell me''
''Where they sending poor me?''
''I am neither one nor the other''
''Six of one, half a dozen of the other''
''So if they sending all these people back home for true''
''They got to split me in two''"}}


==Notable Douglas==
==Notable Douglas==
* [[Mighty Dougla|Cletus Ali]], Trinidadian musician, better known as Mighty Dougla
{{Main|List of Dougla people}}
* [[Tatyana Ali]], [[Trinidadian and Tobagonian Americans|Trinidadian American]] actress
* [[Esther Anderson (Jamaican actress)|Esther Anderson]], actress (United Kingdom; born in Jamaica)<ref>{{Cite web|last=Batson-Savage|first=Tanya|date=2013-07-01|title=Esther Anderson: "They said I'd snubbed Hollywood"|url=https://www.caribbean-beat.com/issue-122/esther-anderson-they-said-id-snubbed-hollywood|access-date=2021-06-21|website=Caribbean Beat Magazine|language=en-GB}}</ref>
* [[Johnson Beharry]], a [[Grenadians in the United Kingdom|Grenadian British]] soldier in the [[British Army]]<ref name="TheBestYou">{{cite web|title=I wouldn't say I am lucky… Interview with Johnson Beharry, VC – The Best You Magazine|url=https://thebestyoumagazine.co/i-wouldnt-say-i-am-lucky-interview-with-johnson-beharry-vc/|date=17 May 2013|access-date=11 November 2020}}</ref> 
* [[Melissa Bell (singer)|Melissa Bell]], [[British Jamaicans|Jamaican British]] singer and mother of [[Alexandra Burke]]
* [[Foxy Brown (rapper)|Foxy Brown]], rapper (United States; Trinidadian and Tobagonian background)<ref name="outspoken 4">{{cite web|last=Calloway|first=Sway|author-link=Sway Calloway|date=2001-05-29|title=Foxy Brown – Outspoken (Part 4)|url=http://www.mtv.com/bands/archive/f/fbrown01/index4.jhtml|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060502130142/http://www.mtv.com/bands/archive/f/fbrown01/index4.jhtml|archive-date=2006-05-02|access-date=2006-05-09|publisher=[[MTV News]]}}</ref>
* [[Alexandra Burke]], British Jamaican singer and daughter of [[Melissa Bell (singer)|Melissa Bell]]
* [[Super Cat]], Jamaican deejay<ref name="Barrow">Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) ''The Rough Guide to Reggae'', Rough Guides, {{ISBN|1-84353-329-4}}, p. 286</ref>
* [[Sabrina Colie]], actress (United States; born in Jamaica){{citation needed|date=December 2020}}
* [[Mervyn Dymally]], Trinidadian American politician<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Honorable Mervyn M. Dymally's Biography|url=https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/honorable-mervyn-m-dymally|access-date=2020-02-26|website=The HistoryMakers|language=en}}</ref>
* [[Special Ed (rapper)|Special Ed]], rapper (United States; Jamaican background)
* [[Marlene Malahoo Forte]], politician (Jamaica)<ref>{{Cite web|date=2018-01-13|title=Information director's criticisms of Indian descent conference don't represent gov't position|url=https://www.stabroeknews.com/2018/01/13/news/guyana/information-directors-criticisms-of-indian-descent-conference-dont-represent-govt-position/|access-date=2021-06-21|website=Stabroek News|language=en-US}}</ref>
* [[Amy Ashwood Garvey]], activist (Jamaica)<ref>https://ufmrg.files.wordpress.com/2019/01/diversity_-difference-and-caribbean-feminism-feb_2007.pdf</ref><ref>''[[Comparative studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East]]'', Vols 17–8, [[Duke University Press]], 1997, p. 124.</ref>
* [[Lisa Hanna]], Miss World 1993, MP Saint Ann South Eastern
* [[Kamala Harris]], [[Vice President of the United States|Vice-President]] of the United States (Indo-Jamaican)
* [[Lester Holt]], U.S. news anchor and journalist<ref name=TodayShowRoots>[https://www.today.com/video/lester-and-jenna-trace-their-jamaican-roots-44495427630 Today Show: "Lester and Jenna trace their Jamaican roots"] Aired on September 9, 2012 {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120913233331/http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/48959400#48959400|date=September 13, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://allday.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/11/189148.aspx|title=To Jamaica with Mom|last=Holt|first=Lester|date=2007-05-11|work=allDAY|publisher=NBC News|access-date=2009-03-25|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090210170155/http://allday.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/11/189148.aspx|archive-date=February 10, 2009}}</ref>
* [[Diana King]], singer (United States; born in Jamaica)<ref>{{cite web|title=Reggae Singer Diana King official Biography|url=http://www.dancehallreggaeworld.com/diana-king.html|publisher=Dance Hall Reggae World|access-date=24 April 2017}}</ref>
* [[Sonnet L'Abbé]], [[List of Guyanese Canadians|Guyanese Canadian]] poet
* [[Trevor McDonald|Sir Trevor McDonald]], [[Trinidadian and Tobagonian British|Trinidadian British]] news anchor and journalist
* [[Nicki Minaj]], singer, rapper (United States; born in Trinidad and Tobago)
* [[Nicole Narain]], model and actress
* [[Rajee Narinesingh]], LGBT activist (United States; Trinidadian and Tobagonian background)<ref>Rajee Narinesingh</ref>
* [[Furdjel Narsingh]], footballer (Netherlands; Surinamese background)
* [[Luciano Narsingh]], footballer (Netherlands; Surinamese background)
* [[Roxanne Persaud]], politician (United States; born in Guyana)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.indocaribbean.org/gala-2016.html|title=Gala 2016|website=Indo-Caribbean Alliance, Inc.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://guyanesegirlsrock.com/guyanese-born-new-york-assemblywoman-roxanne-persaud-elected-new-york-state-senate/|title=Guyanese-born New York Assemblywoman, Roxanne Persaud, was elected to the New York State Senate|date=November 4, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.timesunion.com/tuplus-local/article/New-York-s-immigrant-lawmakers-make-their-mark-6753278.php|title=New York's immigrant lawmakers make their mark|date=2016-01-13|work=Times Union|access-date=2018-09-30}}</ref>
* [[Yendi Phillips]], model (Jamaica){{cn|date=January 2021}}
* [[Thara Prashad]], singer and model<ref>{{cite web|title=Thara Aims High: What can't she do?|author=Jennifer Bisram|publisher=MoraFire|date=Sep–Oct 2009|url=http://www.morafire.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=25&Itemid=74|access-date=2009-11-02}}{{Dead link|date=June 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=no }}</ref><ref>[http://aud.iamthemoon.com/index.php?element=features_gt&archive=232] {{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>
* [[Gema Ramkeesoon]], social worker and women's rights activist (Trinidad and Tobago)<ref>https://ufmrg.files.wordpress.com/2019/01/diversity_-difference-and-caribbean-feminism-feb_2007.pdf</ref>
* [[Krishmar Santokie]], cricketer
* [[Abrahim Simmonds]], youth advocate (Jamaica)
* [[Toni-Ann Singh]], Miss World 2019 (Jamaica)
* [[Joyce Vincent]], woman whose death went unnoticed for more than two years as her corpse lay undiscovered in her London bedsit (United Kingdom; Grenadian background)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/oct/09/joyce-vincent-death-mystery-documentary|title=Joyce Carol Vincent: how could this young woman lie dead and undiscovered for almost three years?|first=Carol|last=Morley|date=October 8, 2011|via=www.theguardian.com}}</ref>


==See also==
==See also==
* [[Indo-African]]
{{Portal|India|Africa|Caribbean}}
* [[Indo-African (disambiguation)]]
* [[Indo-Trinidadian and Tobagonian]]
* [[Afro–Trinidadians and Tobagonians|Afro-Trinidadian and Tobagonian]]
* [[Indo-Caribbean people|Indo-Caribbean]]
* [[Afro-Caribbean people|Afro-Caribbean]]
* [[Marabou (ethnicity)]]


==References==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}


==External links==
==Further reading==
* [http://cqoj.typepad.com "Indian presence and contribution in the Caribbean"]
* Barratt, Sue A, and Aleah N. Ranjitsingh. ''Dougla in the Twenty-First Century: Adding to the Mix''. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2021. {{ISBN|9781496833709}}. See also CUNY Asian and Asian American Research Institute [https://aaari.info/21-11-12barratt-ranjitsingh/ author interview] on 19 November 2021.
* [http://cqoj.typepad.com/chest/2005/03/in_memory_of_ch.html "150 years of Indian arrival commemorated in Guadeloupe by all citizens"]


{{Ethnic groups in Trinidad and Tobago}}
{{Ethnic groups in Trinidad and Tobago}}
{{African diaspora}}
{{African diaspora}}
{{NRI-PIO}}
{{Indian diaspora}}
 
{{Overseas Asians}}{{Multiethnicity}}
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Trinidad and Tobago]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Trinidad and Tobago]]
[[Category:Multiracial affairs in the Caribbean]]
[[Category:Multiracial affairs in the Caribbean]]
[[Category:Multiracial affairs in South America]]
[[Category:Multiracial affairs in South America]]
[[Category:People of Dougla descent|*]]
[[Category:People of Dougla descent|*]]
[[Category:Indo-Caribbean]]
[[Category:Indian diaspora in the Caribbean]]
[[Category:Afro-Caribbean]]
[[Category:African diaspora in the Caribbean]]

Latest revision as of 01:40, 20 February 2026


Dougla people
Regions with significant populations
Caribbean
(notably in Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Suriname, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Grenada,Guadeloupe, and Martinique)
Diaspora in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the Netherlands
Languages
Caribbean English (predominantly Trinidadian Creole, Guyanese Creole, Sranan Tongo, Jamaican Patois, Saint Lucian Creole), French, Dutch, Papiamento, Caribbean Hindustani
Religion
Related ethnic groups
Afro-Caribbeans, Indo-Caribbeans

Dougla (English: /ˈdɡlə/ – from Caribbean Hindustani dugalaa 'mixed') is a term used to describe people who are of mixed African and Indian descent.

Definition[edit | edit source]

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" (literally bastard, of two fathers).[1] 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.[2]

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.[3]

In the French West Indies (Guadeloupe, Martinique), Afro-Indian people used to be referred to as Batazendyen or Chapé-Kouli.

History[edit | edit source]

There are sporadic records of Indo-Euro interracial relationships, both consensual and nonconsensual, before any ethnic mixing of the African and Indian variety.[4]

Other Indo-based types of mixed heritage (Indo-Chinese (Chindians), Indo-Latino/Hispanic (Tegli), Indo-English (Anglo-Indians), Indo-Portuguese (Luso-Indians), Indo-Irish (Irish Indians), Indo-Scottish (Scottish-Indians), Indo-Dutch, 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.[5]

Notable Douglas[edit | edit source]

See also[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. Wilk, Richard; Barbosa, Livia (2013-05-09). Rice and Beans: A Unique Dish in a Hundred Places. Berg. ISBN 9781847889058.
  2. Winer, Lise (2009). Dictionary of the English/Creole of Trinidad & Tobago. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. p. 311. ISBN 978-0-7735-3406-3.
  3. Bureau of Statistics, Guyana (July 2016). 2012 Census Compendium 2: Computation Composition (PDF) (Report). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2021-01-05. Retrieved 2022-12-04.
  4. Regis, Ferne Louanne (17 August 2016). The Trinidad Dougla: Identity, Ethnicity and Lexical Choice. Cambridge Scholars. ISBN 9781443898997.
  5. "Dougla dilemma". www.trinidadandtobagonews.com.

Further reading[edit | edit source]

  • Barratt, Sue A, and Aleah N. Ranjitsingh. Dougla in the Twenty-First Century: Adding to the Mix. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2021. ISBN 9781496833709. See also CUNY Asian and Asian American Research Institute author interview on 19 November 2021.

Template:Ethnic groups in Trinidad and Tobago Template:African diaspora Template:Indian diaspora Template:Overseas AsiansTemplate:Multiethnicity