General Administration: The Sabha or Manram of the king in the capital was the highest court of justice. The sons of Malaiyaman were tried and sentenced, and later released by the intercession of Kovur Kilar, in the Manram of Uraiyur, and Pottiyar, after the death of his friend Kopperunjolan, could not bear the sight of the same Manram bereft of him. The elders were doubtless expected to have laid aside their personal quarrels when they attended the sabha to help in the adjudication of disputes. We may infer that the assembly was used by the king for purposes of general consultation as well. The Kural, clearly a post Sangam work, deﬁnitely regards the Sabha as a general assembly dealing with all affairs. Even less specialized, and more entangled in the social and religious complex of village life was the Manram. Each village had its common place of meeting, generally under the shade of a big tree, where men, women and children met for all the common activities of the village, including sports and pastimes. There may also have been a political side to these rural gatherings, the germ out of which grew the highly organized system of village government, which func- tioned, so admirably in later Chola times.