In 1510 Lopes, a minor nobleman and soldier, accompanied the Portuguese governor of India Afonso de Albuquerque on his conquest of Goa on the west coast of India. Shortly after its conquest, Albuquerque set sail to conquer Malacca in Malaysia, leaving Lopes behind as part of the garrison, with orders to keep the peace and rule over the local population. When Albuquerque returned nearly two years later, he found Goa under siege and some of the men had defected to the enemy side, and some, including Lopes himself, had married native women and converted to Islam.