Topiaj (Bërkova) extends along both sides of the Klina–Istog road. The area preserves traces and objects associated with earlier habitation, while written documentation records the settlement clearly by the late medieval period.
An Ottoman register of the Sanjak of Shkodra from 1485 records 54 households. An Austrian map based on information from 1689 uses the name Brecova, and the settlement is also mentioned several times in the Deviç Monastery register between 1769 and 1785. It later appears in the Kosovo Vilayet yearbooks of 1893, 1896 and 1900.
In 1912 the village was burned by Serbian authorities. Before 1999, Albanian, Ashkali and Serbian families lived in Topiaj. After the war, Serbian homes and economic buildings were destroyed; for this episode, the study describes the destruction as retaliation by residents from the surrounding area.
Source
Source and further reading
Principal source: Prof. Dr. Jusuf Osmani, Settlements of Kosovo 3 — Klina, Prishtina, 2003.
Source entry: TOPIAJ (Bërkova)
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.