Background
A senior descendant of Vsevolod the Big Nest and also of Alexander Nevsky (Dmitry was great-great-grandson of Nevsky"s third son Andrey), he inherited Suzdal in 1359 and Nizhny Novgorod in 1365.
A senior descendant of Vsevolod the Big Nest and also of Alexander Nevsky (Dmitry was great-great-grandson of Nevsky"s third son Andrey), he inherited Suzdal in 1359 and Nizhny Novgorod in 1365.
His policy towards Tatars was conciliatory for the most part, as his eastern lands were continuously exposed to their attacks. After some rivalry with Dmitri of Moscow, he was installed by the Khan of the Golden Horde as the Grand Duke of Vladimir in 1360. During his reign, he repeatedly quarreled with the Novgorod Republic over the raids of Novgorodian pirates who looted his own capital and Tatar markets along the Volga River.
Joining his army with Dmitri"s, he led an allied assault on Volga Bulgars and Mordovia.
In 1377, the allied armies were defeated by the Tatars on the Pyana River, because (as the chronicler put it) they were too drunk to fight.
