Donskoy, Dmitry

sometimes referred to as Dmitry I (1350-1389), Prince of Moscow and Grand Prince of Vladimir was the first prince of Moscow to openly challenge Mongol authority in Russia. His nickname, Donskoy (i.e., “of the Don”), alludes to his great victory against the Tatars in the Battle of Kulikovo (1380), which took place on the Don River. Although the victory did not end the Mongol rule over the Russian principalities, it is widely regarded by Russian historians as the turning point when Mongol influence began to wane and Muscovite power to rise—a process that eventually led to Muscovite independence and formation of the modern Russian state. According to the Russian historian Lev Gumilev, “Russians went to the Kulikovo field as citizens of various principalities and returned as a united Russian nation”