Dufile was originally a fort built by Emin Pasha

Emin Pasha

Mehmed Emin Pasha — he was born Isaak Eduard Schnitzer and baptized Eduard Carl Oscar Theodor Schnitzer — was a physician, naturalist, and governor of the Egyptian province of Equatoria on the upper Nile...

, the Governor of Equatoria

Equatoria

Equatoria is a region in the south of present-day South Sudan along the upper reaches of the White Nile. Originally a province of Egypt, it also contained most of Northern part of present day Uganda including Albert Lake...

, in 1879; it is located on the Albert Nile just inside Uganda

Uganda

Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...

, close to a site chosen in 1874 by then-Colonel Charles George Gordon

Charles George Gordon

Major-General Charles George Gordon, CB , known as "Chinese" Gordon, Gordon Pasha, and Gordon of Khartoum, was a British army officer and administrator....

 to assemble steamers that were carried there overland. Emin and A.J. Mounteney Jephson were confined in the fort during a mutiny in 1888. There followed the Battle of Dufile

Battle of Dufile

The Battle of Dufile was fought at the fort of Dufile, Uganda on November 28, 1888 between Mahdist forces and a garrison loyal to the Khedive of Egypt. This followed a three-day siege in which the fort was penetrated and members of steamer crews were killed in the harbour. The 1200 garrison troops...

 when the former mutineers, after releasing Emin and Jephson, rallied to fight Mahdist forces. Abandoned by Emin's people in January 1889, Dufile, was later reoccupied and reconstructed by Belgian forces from 1902 to 1907.

The fort, where a ditch and bank enclose an area of 12 acres (4.8 hectares), can be reached by road or boat from Laropi. Emin's old harbour is now the departure point for passenger ferries to Nimule

Nimule

Nimule is a town in South Sudan, immediately north of the International border with Uganda.-Location:Nimule is located in Magwi County, Eastern Equatoria State, South Sudan, adjacent to the border with the Republic of Uganda. This location lies approximately , by road, southeast of Juba, the...

 in South Sudan

South Sudan

South Sudan , officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country located in the Sahel region of northeastern Africa. It is also part of the North Africa UN sub-region. Its current capital is Juba, which is also its largest city; the capital city is planned to be moved to the more...

.
Dufile was visited by writer Alan Moorehead

Alan Moorehead

Alan McCrae Moorehead OBE was a war correspondent and author of popular histories, most notably two books on the nineteenth-century exploration of the Nile, The White Nile and The Blue Nile . Australian-born, he lived in England, and Italy, from 1937.-Biography:Alan Moorehead was born in...

 and surveyed in July 1965 by a team from Imperial College. The fort was excavated between December 2006 and January 2007 by an international team and recommendations on conservation of the site are on file. Today the name Dufile is applied to a nearby Madi village and sub-county in Moyo District

Moyo District

Moyo District is a district in Northern Uganda. Like many other Ugandan districts, it is named after its 'chief town', Moyo, where the district headquarters are located.-Location:...

 to the east of Laropi. The name Dufile itself is a corruption of the Madi village name Odrupele.