A series of aryloxy alkyl/aryl alkyl imidazoles were synthesized and evaluated in vitro as antileishmanials against Leishmania donovani. All the 19 compounds exhibited 94-100% inhibition at 10microg/mL against promastigotes and 12 compounds exhibited high inhibition with an IC(50) in the range of 0.47-4.85microg/mL against amastigotes. Promising compounds were tested further in vivo. Among all, compounds 4 and 23 with 4-CF(3) aryloxy moiety exhibited medium in vivo inhibition of 58-60%, thus providing new structural lead for antileishmanials.