Rixheva lies about 10 km south of Klina. It has a compact settlement pattern. The terrain is lowland. Recorded traces around the settlement include pottery fragments, roof tiles, bricks, building foundations, old burial grounds, evidence of earlier habitation and use of the area.
Some of these traces are associated with the Illyrian-Dardanian and Bronze Age periods. The settlement appears in written records from 1314, with further references in 1689, 1893. Historical forms of the name recorded in documents include Riqeva. After the expulsions of Albanians from the Sanjak of Niš in 1877–1878, Albanian muhajir families also settled here.
During the interwar period, the settlement was also affected by Serbian and Montenegrin colonisation. In 1912, the settlement suffered burning, looting or killings during actions by Serbian forces. During the 1998–1999 war, the settlement experienced burning and destruction, the killing of 12 residents, 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: RIXHEVA
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.