Photo and text by Kashif-ul-Huda, TwoCircles.net
Syed Ahmed Bukhari likes to call himself Shahi Imam. Shahi Imam means Imam or prayer leader of the royalty or appointed by the royalty. It is a different matter that Mughal dynasty came to a close after the 1857 war against the British.
Imam Bukhari is the official Imam of Jama Masjid and his family has been serving as Imam of this masjid for the last 13 generations. A board fixed in Jama Masjid proudly names all 13 Imams who served this masjid. There are other imams of Jama Masjid that lead the regular 5 times prayers, Syed Ahmed Bukhari leads about one juma prayer a month. Syed Abdullah Bukhari, father of Syed Ahmed was the first one to dabble in politics is still alive and after juma prayer announcements are made to pray for his health(update: Abdullah Bukhari died on 8 July 2009).
Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jama_Masjid,_Delhi