Ѳznaşr (Uzbek State Publishing) was formed around 1924 in the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic. Its main offices were located in Samarkand and in Tashkent. Prior to the October Revolution of 1917, there were few printing presses and lithography studios in Uzbekistan, and the few that existed tended to serve the Imperial Russian administration. In 1920, the Turkestan State Publishing House (likely the first publisher in the "Soviet East") developed operations across Central Asia. Ѳznaşr was specifically created as the state publisher’s Uzbekistan branch. Ѳznaşr chiefly disseminated socio-economic and political literature. In addition, Ѳznaşr was known as Uzdavnashr (Uzbek State Publishing). In 1964, the entity was renamed Uzbekistan State Publishing (Uzgosizdat in Russian language).