es and gold as well as religion. Conversion, however, was slow. McLynn (1992) says "the disease barrier held the intruders at bay" (p. 2). First, Saharan tribes such as the Hausa, Bornu, Songhai, Tuareg and Mandingo, some early and some like the Songhai (1568) later, were converted to Islam. Then, important conversions were made in the 11th century of the rulers of Gao (1000), Takrur (1040), Kanem (1067) and Ghana (1070). Along the East Coast, Arab missionaries and traders established outposts in Sofala (Mozambique), Kilwa (Tanzania) and Malindi (Kenya). According to Oliver and Fage (1989), a few Greek and Arab traders made it far enough inland in the 4th century AD to espy the snowy peaks of Mount Kilimanjaro, which were not seen again by non-Africans until the middle of the 19th century. But overall, the Arabs made little progress inland in East Africa. They were consistently rebuffed by the Christian kingdoms of Nubia and Axum (Ethi
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