Battle of Kulikovo: Did Dmitry Donskoy Flee, and Who Was Mamai

Regarding the Battle of Kulikovo. What's wrong with the Battle of Kulikovo?

I thought you'd say it never happened. In what year?

In 1380. And Dmitry Donskoy, excuse my language, bolted from the battle, disguised himself as an ordinary soldier, and ran away.

Where? And where did he ru— I don't remember where he ran. If you remind me, I'll be grateful.

And who was he running from? From the battle, can you imagine? He showed cowardice.

So where did he run to, tell me? I can't imagine such cowardice, because the battle was won.

Well, the battle may have been won, but Dmitry Donskoy ran away.

I wonder, from what sources is this information?

In all of them, starting from Karamzin and ending with Klyuchevsky. You open Karamzin's "History of the Russian State", and read about the Battle of Kulikovo.

No, that will never happen. Never happen. No way? Yeah, right, you can just get lost then. The whole catch with the Battle of Kulikovo isn't even that to this day, well, they haven't found the field where it took place. Although in Russia somewhere near this field there is a museum,

and so on, well, everything proper. The trouble is that this Battle of Kulikovo or Mamai's, like, massacre, that the Russians at the time fought Mamai, who was allegedly a claimant to the Khan's throne in the Horde.

In reality, he was a rebel and a separatist, and the Russians, supporting the central government of the Golden Horde, crushed the rebel and separatist.

And for some reason, in Russian his-- historiography, this whole thing is presented as some kind of, well, great battle of Russians with the Mongols, like, blah-blah-blah, blah-blah-blah, and so on.

In reality, that's how it is. And the organizer of this, like of the battle, Mr. Dmitry Donskoy indeed chickened out of the field, and then rode out, as they say, on a white horse: "And I won."

And they defeated an illegitimate claimant to the Khan's throne, supporting the central government.

Well, just the way Russians like it.