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History & Milestones

History & Milestones

The Jesuit mission to the north of India goes back to 1580. In the year 1579, Emperor Akbar invited the Jesuits from Goa to visit his court, mainly to get Catholic debaters for an interfaith forum held regularly in Akbar’s palace at Fatehpur Sikri. The first Jesuits, arrived at the Mughal court in 1580, and the Mughal Mission, which lasted with two interruptions till 1773, was in the initial stages directed by two accomplished missionaries in the Jesuit’s first century, Rudolfo Aquaviva (1550-83) and Fr. Jerome Xavier (1549-1617), the grandnephew of St. Francis Xavier.

Approximately a century and a half after their arrival at Fatehpur Sikri, the Jesuits made inroads into Rajasthan. They first came to Jaipur in 1729 at the invitation of Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II in order to help him set up an astronomical observatory known as Jantar Mantar at his then new capital of Jaipur.

The Jesuits came back to Jaipur in 1941, the 400th anniversary year of St. Francis Xavier’s arrival to India, at the invitation of the Bishop of Bishop and Mirza Ismail, the then prime minister of Jaipur. The bishop offered them St. Mary’s School at Ghat Gate, which was started in 1941 by Fr. Ignatius OFM, Captain under the patronage of the Bishop of Ajmer. Later, in 1945, the school was shifted to its present site under a new name—St. Xavier’s School. In 1943, St. Xavier’s School, Jaipur was established. Ever since, the school has educated thousands of students who have exceled in life by holding key positions in every walk of life not only in Rajasthan but all over India and even abroad.

1950
JXEA was registered and established as a society managed by the Jesuits.
2006
Xavier Vocational College (XVI) was started in Jaipur to give vocational training to the economically weaker sections of society.
2010
St. Xavier’s College, Jaipur founded by J.X.E.A. (Jaipur Xavier Educational Association) in collaboration with the Xavier School Alumni/ae under the leadership of Rev. Fr. Varkey Perekkatt, SJ with an affiliation to the University of Rajasthan, Jaipur (Rajasthan) with five Undergraduate courses.
2013
St. Xavier’s School, Mahua was founded.
2015
St. Xavier’s School, Nevta and St. Xavier’s College, Nevta (affiliated from the University of Rajasthan) were founded.
2018
Xavier Vocational College (XVI) was started at Nevta, Jaipur.
2021
In 2021, St. Xavier’s College, Jaipur shifted to the New Campus at Nevta, Jaipur and St. Xavier’s College, Nevta merged with St. Xavier’s College, Jaipur to meet the emerging needs of the educational system.
2022
To cater to the societal need for technical upliftment in the global world, the JXEA has developed its new Technical Institution – The Xavier Institute of Management and Informatics, Jaipur for the MBA and MCA Programme in 2022-23.