Bardhaj (Jashanica) lies about 6 km northeast of Klina. The terrain is hilly. Recorded traces around the settlement include pottery fragments, building foundations, bridge remains, fortification traces, evidence of earlier habitation and use of the area.
Some of these traces are associated with the prehistoric, Illyrian-Dardanian, and ancient periods. The settlement appears in written records from 1330, with further references in 1455, 1485. Historical forms of the name recorded in documents include Jelshanica. A register from 1455 records 54 households.
After the expulsions of Albanians from the Sanjak of Niš in 1877–1878, Albanian muhajir families also settled here. The 20th century also brought emigration of residents to Albania. During the interwar period, 73 Serbian or Montenegrin colonist families were settled here. In 1919, during actions by Serbian forces, 60 houses were burned or looted and 16 people were killed. During the 1998–1999 war, the settlement experienced burning and destruction, the killing of 27 residents, 9 people reported missing, the expulsion or displacement of residents.
Source
Source and further reading
Principal source: Prof. Dr. Jusuf Osmani, Settlements of Kosovo 3 — Klina, Prishtina, 2003.
Source entry: BARDHAJ (Jashanica)
This page presents a selected summary from the published study of the settlement. For complete archival references, family histories, microtoponymy and the full treatment, consult the original volume.