Rejaf, also Rajāf or Rageef, is a community in

Central Equatoria Central Equatoria is a states of South Sudan, state in South Sudan. With an area of , it is the smallest of the original South Sudanese states. Its previous name was Bahr al-Jabal (also Bahr-el-Jebel), named after a tributary of the White Nile t ...

South Sudan South Sudan (), officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the north by Sudan; on the east by Ethiopia; on the south by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Kenya; and on the ...

, on the west bank of the

White Nile The White Nile ( ') is a river in Africa, the minor of the two main tributaries of the Nile, the larger being the Blue Nile. The name "White" comes from the clay sediment carried in the water that changes the water to a pale color. In the stri ...

. The

Lado Enclave The Lado Enclave (; ) was a leased territory administered by the Congo Free State and later by the Belgian Congo that existed from 1894 until 1910. Situated on the west bank of the Upper Nile in what is now South Sudan and northwest Uganda, it wa ...

was an

exclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is s ...

of the

Congo Free State The Congo Free State, also known as the Independent State of the Congo (), was a large Sovereign state, state and absolute monarchy in Central Africa from 1885 to 1908. It was privately owned by Leopold II of Belgium, King Leopold II, the const ...

that existed from 1894 until 1910, leased by the British to King

Leopold II of Belgium Leopold II (9 April 1835 – 17 December 1909) was the second king of the Belgians from 1865 to 1909, and the founder and sole owner of the Congo Free State from 1885 to 1908. Born in Brussels as the second but eldest-surviving son of King Leo ...

for the period of his lifetime. Rejaf was the terminus for boats on the Nile and the seat of the Commander, the only European colonial official within the enclave. In the fierce

Battle of Rejaf The Battle of Rejaf, also known as the Battle of Bedden, was fought on 17 February 1897 between the Belgium, Belgian-led forces of the Congo Free State and Mahdist State, Mahdist rebels in Rejaf (now in present-day South Sudan). The battle resul ...

on 17 February 1897, Belgian commandant Louis-Napoléon Chaltin led a column of eight-hundred men against over two thousand Mahdists. Chaltin was victorious and the battle secured Rejaf as a Belgian post along the Nile.

References

Populated places in Central Equatoria Juba County {{SouthSudan-geo-stub