Bjeshkasi (Plitkoviqi) lies about 22 km east of Lipjan in hilly and mountainous terrain, with neighbourhoods spread apart from one another. Nearby, in the Zhegoc area, lies Gradina, an early Illyrian-Dardanian site; bricks and roof tiles found in the territory also point to earlier habitation.
A register of the Kaza of Novobërda from 1498 records the settlement under the form Prenkoviq with 17 household heads. After the expulsion of Albanians from the Sanjak of Niš in 1877–78, muhajir families settled in the area.
Before the 1998–99 war the village had 15 families and 115 Albanian residents. On 17 March 1999, 11 houses were burned and the school was partly damaged; Serbian forces killed a 70-year-old resident. The population sheltered in the mountains, while some were deported to Albania.
Source
Source and further reading
Principal source: Prof. Dr. Jusuf Osmani, Vendbanimet e Kosovës 5 — Lypjani, Prishtinë, 2003.
Source entry: BJESHKASI (Plitkoviqi)
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.