Kouber 1 was a Bulgar, recorded only in the Miracles of St Demetrius: Mir. Dem. II 5 title (περὶ τοῦ μελετηθέντος κρυπτῶς ἐμφυλίου πολέμου κατὰ τῆς πόλεως παρὰ τοῦ Μαύρου καὶ Κούβερ τῶν Βουλγάρων). Serving under the khagan of the Avars, Kouber 1 was appointed ruler (ἄρχων) of the Greeks living under Avar rule, the descendants of Greeks conquered sixty years before: Mir. Dem. II 5, 286 (ὁ τῶν Ἀβάρων χαγάνος, καθὼς τῷ γένει ἔθος ὑπῆρχεν, ἄρχοντα τούτοις ἐπάνω κατέστησε, Κούβερ ὄνομα αὐτῷ). Kouber 1 led them into revolt against the khagan, who pursued them but after several defeats (five or six) left them and retreated to the north: Mir. Dem. II 5, 287. Kouber 1 then led his people south of the Danube to the vicinity of Thessalonike (εἰς τὰ πρὸς ἡμᾶς μέρη) and occupied the Keramesian Plain (τὸν Κεραμήσιον κάμπον); many of his people, especially those who were orthodox Christians, now sought to return to their ancestral homes, some to Thessalonike, some to Constantinople and others to various still surviving cities in Thrace: Mir. Dem. II 5, 288. Kouber 1 and his advisers tried to keep them together under his authority as archon and khagan (καὶ τούτων ἄρχοντα καὶ χαγάνον γενέσθαι) and he wrote to the emperor asking permission to remain with his people and for provisions to made available to them from the people of the Drougoubitai, who were near Thessalonike (τὰ παρακείμενα ἡμῖν τῶν Δρουγουβιτῶν ἔθνη); his request was granted: Mir. Dem. II 5, 289. More of his people began to make their way to nearby Thessalonike and from there to return to Constantinople; when this became known to Kouber 1 (παρὰ τοῦ εἰρημένου πρώτου αὐτῶν Κούβερ), he planned to capture Thessalonike and bring it under his own control, allegedly with a view to eventually extending his authority to the islands, then Asia and the empire itself; his agent for this, whom he contrived to plant in Thessalonike, was Mauros 2 (q. v.), who pretended to rebel against Kouber 1 and serve the empire: Mir. Dem. II 5, 290-291. When the plan was eventually disclosed in Constantinople to the emperor by the son of Mauros 2 (Anonymus 554), it was discovered that Kouber 1 had continued to respect the property and persons owned by Mauros 2 and to treat with increased honour Mauros 2's wives (contrary to the way in which the property of a genuine rebel would have been dealt with): Mir. Dem. II 5, 304. On Kouber 1, see Lemerle, Les plus anciens recueils, Vol. II, pp. 143-145, with references.

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