“Kutti Sattan,” “little Sattan,” is a familiar spirit invoked in performing juggling tricks. The name is almost the same as the Hebrew word Satan, though there does not appear to be any philological connection between the two. If invoked, Sattan is supposed to be willing to place his powers at the service of his devotees, to effect whatever they desire, to supply them with whatever they may wish for, and to enable them to take revenge on their enemies by various spiteful means – such as throwing stones on their houses, breaking their doors, and putting dirt and clay into their food.
I have heard many ridiculous and absurd tales of the tricks ascribed to Sattan, and have been unable to persuade even intelligent Hindus that these must have been either accidental or managed by human agency, in trickery or through spite. On one occasion it was said that stones, cocoa-nut shells, and earth were thrown on the roof of a catechist’s house, while several of his friends were on the watch; and that they were unable to detect any human agency in the affair. In a town called Puthukadei stones were said to be continually falling down on one of the houses through the tricks of a demon.
The Land of Charity, a descriptive account of Travancore and its people, by Rev. Samuel Mateer (1871).