Dougla people (plural Douglas) are Caribbean people who are of mixed African and Indian descent. The word Dougla (also Dugla or Dogla) is used throughout the Dutch and English-speaking Caribbean. Afro-Indo people may also be another term used to describe them.

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 (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.

In Trinidad culture

In 1961, the calypsonian musician Mighty Dougla (born Cletus Ali) described the predicament of Douglas:

Notable Douglas