Background
Entwistle was born on March 10, 1949 in Weymouth, England.
Entwistle was born on March 10, 1949 in Weymouth, England.
He completed his undergraduate education with an honors Bachelor of Arts in French language at the University of Southampton in 1971. In 1982 he completed his Doctor of Philosophy in Hindi, writing a dissertation The Rasa mana ke pada of Kevalarama, a medieval Hindi text of the Eighth Gaddi of the Vallabha Sampradaya.
He was a professor at the University of Washington. He then moved on to the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, completing a Master of Arts in South Asia Area Studies in 1975. He was supervised by Professor J. C. Wright, Doctor R. Doctorate. Gupta and Doctor R. South. McGregor.
From 1980 to 1985, Entwistle held the post of Universitair Docent at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands where he taught Hindi and courses on Indian civilization, iconography, religion and literature.
He joined the faculty of the Department of Asian Languages and Literature at the University of Washington in Seattle in 1986. He was promoted to associate professor with tenure in September, 1990.
Aside from his work within his department, Entwistle also worked within Washington"s South Asia and Comparative Religion programs in the Jackson School of International Studies. Entwistle"s scholarly works on the study of India and Indian religions were marked by close attention to both philological linguistic issues of translation of texts and a broad emphasis upon the context of the material.
Entwistle"s research was dependent on a thorough linguistic and literary training which formed the bedrock of his close attention to both philological issues of text and cultural context.
In 1987, Entwistle published a multidimensional study of medieval Indian cultural history entitled Braj: Centre of Krishna Pilgrimage. Jack Hawley opined that:
In 1994, Entwistle coedited the Studies in South Asian Devotional Literature: Research Papers 1988-1991. In 1986, Entwistle was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor.
He underwent severe radiation and chemotherapy and experienced a remission that allowed him to engage in almost ten further years of research and teaching.
In late 1995, he took up a Senior Fellowship of the American Institute of Indian Studies during a long postponed study leave in India, but showed symptoms that the remission had ended. His deteriorating health forced him to return to Seattle in January 1996.
He died on March 28, 1996. At the time of his final illness, he was working on a piece in Readings in Medieval Rajasthani (Dingal) for the SOAS South Asian Texts series and a critical edition and translation of Acaldas Khici ri vacanika (The Tale of Acaldas Khici), a 15th-century historical ballad from Rajasthan.