The Jesuit project of education in India that began with St Francis Xavier and flourished due to the support of colonial masters at its establishment was distinctive in its aims and objectives. The Jesuits taught the lowly and the mighty with the sole aim of "evangelisation", a term that has changed its meaning depending on contexts and times. With a zeal for God they established institutions for the families of rulers and kings to win goodwill for the work of evangelisation, to form the clergy and to educate catechists. Jesuits opened several institutions at the level of the parish to educate the illiterate, to bring ordinary people to Christ and to empower the powerless. Several Jesuits of foreign origin mastered local languages and were acknowledged as scholars in the field, winning respect and goodwill. The Indian region with the largest contingent of Jesuits today has the biggest number of Jesuit institutions in the Society of Jesus, some of whom are rated as India's top institutions at different levels. Although established by foreign Jesuits, these institutions are today managed by the Jesuits of India, more than a thousand of them hailing from India's discriminated communities, a tribute to the legacy left behind.