Religion, not guns ruled the world. The Muslims, not the whites, we're the most powerful & the 'Crusades' were failures. Thru the Quran we get an established patriarchal way of life, as it took from the old testament and was delivered to a much broader & better accomplished civilization, emphasis on light skinned men as rulers.
Don't underestimate African slavery, after all they enslaved their own & sold them off, it's not as thou European traders went inland looking for them...